15 Facts About Edward Whalley

Edward Whalley was the second son of Richard Whalley, who had been High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire in 1595, by his second wife Frances Cromwell, an aunt of Oliver Cromwell.

Edward Whalley's great-grandfather was Richard Whalley, a prominent adherent of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, and a Member of Parliament.

In 1639, Whalley was forced to flee to Scotland to escape from his creditors leaving his wife behind him.

Edward Whalley fought at the Battle of Edgehill and later became major of Cromwell's regiment of horse.

Edward Whalley distinguished himself in the field, and his conduct at Gainsborough in 1643 was especially praised by Cromwell.

Edward Whalley fought at the Battle of Marston Moor, commanded one of Cromwell's two regiments of cavalry at the Battle of Naseby and at the capture of Bristol, was then sent into Oxfordshire, took Banbury, and was besieging Worcester when he was superseded, according to Richard Baxter, the chaplain of his regiment, because of his religious orthodoxy.

Edward Whalley supported his regiment in their grievances against Parliament in 1647.

Edward Whalley refused to remove Charles's chaplains and treated his captive with courtesy, so much so that Charles later wrote him a letter of thanks.

Edward Whalley was chosen to be a Commissioner at the trial of Charles I and was the fourth to sign the king's death-warrant, immediately after Cromwell.

Edward Whalley took part in Cromwell's Scottish Expedition, was wounded at the Battle of Dunbar, and in the autumn of 1650, was active in dealing with the situation in the north.

Edward Whalley followed and supported Cromwell in his political career, presented the army petition to parliament, approved of the protectorate, and represented Nottinghamshire in the parliaments of 1654 and 1656, taking an active part in the prosecution of the Quaker James Naylor.

Edward Whalley was one of the administrative major-generals, responsible for Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, Warwick, and Leicester.

Edward Whalley's regiment refused to obey his orders, and the Long Parliament dismissed him from his command as a representative of the army.

Edward Whalley was alive but in poor health in 1674 and probably did not live long afterwards.

Edward Whalley was commemorated with a New Haven street named for him as were the other two Regicides who found refuge in New Haven: Edward Whalley Avenue, Dixwell Avenue, and Goffe Street diverge from a complex of intersections lying at the northwest end of Broadway.