Alternative History
Richard Cromwell
Timeline: Cromwell the Great

OTL equivalent: Richard Cromwell

Richard Cromwell

Member of the Council of State.
December 1657 – ...

Chancellor of the University of Oxford
1657 – ...

Predecessor Oliver Cromwell

Member of the Other House
1657 – 1663

Senator (Named by Lord Protector)
1663 – ...

Chancellor of the Duchy of Cornwall
1662 – ...

Born 4 October 1626
Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire
Died 12 July 1712
Cheshunt, Hertfordshire
Spouse Dorothy Maijor (c.1620- 5 January 1675) married 1649
Political Party Cromwellian
Religion Puritan (Independent)
Profession Soldier, politician

Lord Richard Cromwell (4 October 1626 – 12 July 1712) was the third son of Oliver Cromwell and Elizabeth Bourchier. Older brother of Henry, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth.

After his father's death Richard was considered by many to be a lame duck, specially after he was groomed to apparently be the next Lord Protector and was despised by the old ironsides. There were rumours that he would be sent to a colonial post as a sinecure and far from power. It came as surprise that he was keep as member of the Council of State and later named Chancellor of the Duchy of Cornwall. The hearsay was that he held the post of the Duchy so he could pay his gambling bets.

He served in the Council's National Estate Board in charge of the former lands of the King. In this role he successfully advocated the preservation and cession of large patches of woodland as hunting grounds later to be established as National Forests and Estates. He was well liked by foresters and spent long hunting retreats in the Forest of Dean.

He continued to serve in the Other House and later the Senate, being more then once elected briefly as its Lord Speaker.

Political posts[]

Elected MP for Hamspshire (1654-1655) and Oxford (1656 until 4 February 1657), Named member of the Other House (1657-1663), Named Senator (1663-...)