Sir Oliver (of Hinchingbrooke) Cromwell

• BIRTH 1563 Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire District, Cambridgeshire, England
• DEATH 28 Aug 1655 (aged 91–92) Ramsey, Huntingdonshire District, Cambridgeshire, England
• BURIAL St Thomas à Becket Church, Ramsey, Huntingdonshire District, Cambridgeshire, England
• MEMORIAL ID 61592478 bio from a greatgrandson member #47378298

Sir Oliver (of Hinchingbrooke) Cromwel was the oldest son and heir of Sir Henry Williams alias Cromwell and his wife Joan, daughter of Sir Ralph Warren, Lord Mayor of London, as well as, Oliver Cromwell's uncle. He matriculated from Queens' College, Cambridge at Lent 1579 and was admitted at Lincoln's Inn on 12 May 1582. He lived at Godmanchester until the death of his father.

He was JP from about 1585 but was removed in 1587, when there was one of the periodic purges of justices. In 1594 he was restored to his position as J.P.; as the online History of Parliament observes: "It was felt that in a county as small as Huntingdonshire, the custom by which only one member of a family could be a justice was inapplicable — particularly in the case of the owners of Hinchingbrooke."

Cromwell was first elected Member of Parliament for Huntingdonshire in 1589. He was re-elected to each Parliament up to and including the Addled Parliament of 1614 (that is, in 1593, 1597, 1601, 1604, and 1614). In 1621, the seat was occupied by Richard Beavill, but Sir Oliver stood for and was elected to the Happy Parliament of 1624, and its successor, the Useless Parliament of 1625, after the dissolution at King James' death.

Cromwell held a number of local offices: In 1585 he was captain of musters for Huntingdonshire and at the time of the Spanish Armada he was in charge of the men raised in Huntingdonshire. He was recorder of Huntingdon in 1596. He was Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire from 1598 to 1599 and while Sheriff, in 1598, Queen Elizabeth my have dubbed him a knight bachelor.

He was sheriff for county Hants. and Cambridge. Oliver was knighted by Queen Elizabeth 1598. He was uncle and god-father to famed Oliver, Lord Protector. Oliver was most popular and beloved. He received vast wealth from his uncle Richard Warren, but dissipated the money and sold his estates to pay his debts. Oliver was a knight of the Bath. The King stayed many times at his home in 1603, 05, 16, 17 and possibly many others on his way north to hunt. Oliver was created Knight of the Bath. He was a member of the House of Commons, Queen Anne's attorney in 1604. Oliver sold Hunchenbrook. He was a subscriber toward Virginia.

Oliver married 1st Elizabeth Bromley, daughter of Thomas Bromley, the Lord Chancellor, and had four sons and four daughters. She died 17th July 1600, buried All Saints Church, Huntingdon, as Mrs Oliver Cromwell of Godmanchester. He married 2nd in July 1601, Anne Palavicino, one of the richest heiresses in England, daughter of Giles Hooftman of Antwerp, and widow of Sir Haratio Pallovicino, diplomat and moneylender of Babraham, an Italiana. To completely secure the Palavicino inheritance, Sir Oliver married three of his children to the three surviving children of Sir Horatio."

He had a total of eleven children, he himself being the oldest of 11 siblings: two of Cromwell's sons by his first marriage subsequently married two of Anne's daughters by her first marriage. Another daughter, Elizabeth (probably also by his first marriage), married secondly the Roundhead Sir Richard Ingoldsby: one of their many children, Richard Ingoldsby, was among those who signed Charles I's death warrant. Anna died1626 on 26th April, buried All Saints Church, Huntingdon

Hinchingbrooke House He entertained King James at Hinchingbrooke on 27 April 1603, when the King was travelling south to occupy the English throne. Cromwell's presents to the King included "a cup of gold, goodly horses, deep-mouthed hounds, and divers hawks of excellent wing" and a some of the heads of Cambridge University came dressed in scarlet gowns and corner caps to present a Latin oration. It was described as "the greatest feast that had ever been given to a king by a subject". In gratitude King James conferred the Order of the Bath upon Cromwell at the coronation on 24 July 1603. He became attorney to Queen Anne of Denmark and a gentleman of the privy chamber. On 6 January 1604, his father died and Sir Oliver succeeded to Hinchingbrooke and the family estates;[3] about 1605, he also succeeded to his father's office, Custos Rotulorum of Huntingdonshire.

King James was frequently at Hinchingbrooke, apparently treating the place as his own – in 1614 he appointed a keeper of the wardrobe there. By 1623 Sir Oliver was trying to sell Hinchingbrooke to the King, to pay off his debts, but the death of James I in March 1625 ended the negotiations on Hinchingbrooke. Hinchingbrooke was finally sold on 20 June 1627 to Sir Sidney Montagu. Other estates had been sold to meet debts contracted to London moneylenders and he was left with the property at Ramsey, Cambridgeshire. Oliver’s uncle inherited not only his father’s debts, but also his extravagant nature; this led to the sale of Hinchingbrooke House in 1627 to Sir Sidney Montague, when he moved to live in Ramsey. Being a Royalist his fortunes suffered during the Civil War.

Cromwell was loyal to the crown at the outbreak of the English Civil War. His nephew and godson Oliver Cromwell was sent by parliament to the house at Ramsey to search for arms which could be sent to the King at York. The younger Cromwell is said to have stood head uncovered in the presence of his uncle. Later the Ramsey estates were sequestered but were restored to him on 18 April 1648 through the influence of his nephew who became the Lord Protector. He captured between three and four hundred Scottish prisoners, at the battles of Dunbar and Worcester. These Cromwell transported to New England to be sold as slaves. He had defeated the Royalists in England and beheaded the King in 1649. Then he proceeded to the conquest of Ireland.

Sir Oliver Cromwell, uncle of the Protector. At the coronation of King James he was created Knight of the Bath, and was a member of the Council for Virginia in 1607. In the civil war he espoused the cause of the king, and fought against his great nephew, though then upwards of eighty years of age. While sitting alone in his chamber before a fire, he fell forward, it was thought, in a swoon, and was so badly burned that he died Aug. 28, 1655, in the ninety-third year of his age.

He was the brother of Richard, Robert (the father of the Lord Protector) and Henry Cromwell. Today the Cromwell family house or 'seat' is called Hinchingbrook House. He died 28 August 1655 and was buried at Ramsey on the same day to prevent his body being seized by creditors. According to Sir William Dugdale, he died two days after becoming 'scorched' when falling or collapsing into a hearth at his home while drying himself after being out in rain.[5]

"You were not THE Oliver Cromwell but the uncle of the famous Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector of England. However, you were Sir Oliver Cromwell, a Knight of Bath, who opposed your nephew Oliver during the English Civil War because you were a Royalist and supported Charles I and the Stuart Dynasty."

Notes

Did he have a son Thomas, who was related to Giles, perhaps a brother? Debug. Giles objected to the will of Thomas. Rev. John Wheelwright graduated with Oliver and intimate friend returned to England when Oliver (another) was Protector on behalf of colonists then run to Gasbury where he died

Parents
Henry Cromwell 1535–1604
Joan Warren Cromwell 1535–1584

Spouses
Elizabeth Bromley Cromwell 1566–1603
Anne Hooftman Cromwell unknown–1626 - Widow Palavicino

Siblings
Philip Cromwell unknown–1629
Mary Cromwell Dunch unknown–1617
Richard Cromwell unknown–1628
Joan Cromwell Barrington 1552–1641
Robert Cromwell 1560–1617
Henry Cromwell 1566–1630
Elizabeth Cromwell Hampden 1574–1664
Frances Cromwell Whaley 1575–1664
Ralfe Cromwell 1580–1581

Children with Elizabeth*, Anne**

• Elizabeth Cromwell Ingoldsby unknown–1660/6
• Jane Cromwell – 1600
• Joan Cromwell – 1637
• William Cromwell – 1655
• Henry Cromwell 1586–1657
• Thomas Cromwell 1588 –
• John Cromwell 1589–1672
• Katherine Cromwell Palavicino 1594–1613
  • Mary Cromwell
  • Oliver Cromwell – 1628
  • Giles Cromwell 1611 – 1634

References

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Oliver_Cromwell

[2a] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/92980351

[2b] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/61592478/oliver-(of_hinchingbro...

Sources

[3] https://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p2317.htm...

[4] https://www.stirnet.com/genie/data/british/cc4rz/cromwell03.php#linkhi (membership required to view without interruption)

[5] J.C.H. (1981). "Cromwell, Oliver (?1566–1655), of Godmanchester and Hinchingbrooke, Hunts". History of Parliament (Online). Retrieved 1 June 2013.