16 Facts About Bulstrode Whitelocke

Sir Bulstrode Whitelocke was an English lawyer, writer, parliamentarian and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England.

Bulstrode Whitelocke left Oxford, without a degree, for the Middle Temple, and was called to the bar in 1626; in 1628 he became treasurer of his Temple.

Bulstrode Whitelocke was elected for Stafford in the parliament of 1626 and in 1640 he was chosen Member for Great Marlow in the Long Parliament.

Bulstrode Whitelocke took a prominent part in the proceedings against Strafford, was Chairman of the Committee of Management, and had charge of articles XIX–XXIV of the impeachment.

Bulstrode Whitelocke drew up the Bill for making Parliaments indissoluble except by their own consent, and supported the Grand Remonstrance and the action taken in the House of Commons against the illegal canons; on the militia question he advocated a joint control by King and Parliament.

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Bulstrode Whitelocke was sent to the King at Oxford in 1643 and again in 1644 to negotiate terms, and the secret communications with King Charles on the latter occasion were the foundation of a charge of treason brought later against Whitelocke and Denzil Holles.

Bulstrode Whitelocke was one of the Commissioners at the Treaty of Uxbridge in 1645.

Bulstrode Whitelocke thus gravitated more towards Oliver Cromwell and the Army Party, but he took no part in either the disputes between the Army and Parliament or in the trial of the King.

Bulstrode Whitelocke purportedly urged Cromwell after the Battle of Worcester and again in 1652 to recall the Royal Family.

Later in the autumn of 1653, and perhaps in consequence, Bulstrode Whitelocke was despatched on a mission to Christina, queen of Sweden, to conclude a treaty of alliance and assure the freedom of the Sound.

Bulstrode Whitelocke had hitherto shown himself not unfavourable to reform, having supported the Bill introducing the use of English into legal proceedings, having drafted a new treason law, and having set on foot some alterations in Chancery procedure.

On Richard Cromwell's assumption of the Protectorship, Bulstrode Whitelocke was reappointed a Commissioner of the Great Seal, and had considerable influence during the former's short tenure of power.

Bulstrode Whitelocke's career had been marked by moderation and good sense throughout.

Accordingly, Bulstrode Whitelocke was not excepted from the Act of Indemnity, and after the payment of various sums to the King and others he was allowed to retain the bulk of his property.

The purchase of this land resulted in Bulstrode Whitelocke owning 3 miles of Thames water front below Henley-on-Thames.

Bulstrode Whitelocke lived at Fawley Court in Buckinghamshire which he had inherited from his father in 1632.