Description
- A scarce document signed by Oliver Cromwell and dated 1650
- With military content, regarding payment of New Model Army troops
The man who changed British history. Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) was Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1653 to 1658 – the first time in 800 years that England had not been ruled by a king.
Cromwell was one of the most vociferous opponents of Charles I’s rule and was second in command of the parliamentary troops against the royalists in the English civil war. Charles’ defeat, followed by his execution in 1649 (Cromwell signed his death warrant) saw Britain become a republic for 11 years.
Cromwell was succeeded by his son, Richard, as Lord Protector, following his death in 1658.
In 2002, Cromwell was voted among the 10 greatest Britons of all time in a 2002 BBC poll.
The document is dated 14 February 1650 and addressed to Sir John Woollaston, Cromwell's Treasurer at War.
At the time Cromwell was engaged in his brutal campaign in Ireland, and would invade Scotland just three months later.
The document is an order to pay soldiers in a New Model Army cavalry regiment commanded by colonel Philip Twisleton, who Cromwell knighted in 1658.
Cromwell orders "payment of ye Army under my command in Scotland to pay unto Colonel Phillippe Twisleton ye Summe of one thousand three hundred and seventy nine pounds & fourteen shillings upon accompt for 14 dayes pay to ye officers & souldiers in ye Said Collonels regt. of horse . . .for Billet money & additional pay to each Non Commissioned officer & Private Souldr..."
The first three lines of the document have faded somewhat, but the remainder remains clear and legible throughout.
Cromwell's signature is large and visually striking, signed boldy "O Cromwell".
The document measures 7.3” by 11.4” (18.5cm by 29cm), with the expected folds, toning and minor paper loss to the lower left-hand side.
Provenance: ex Stanley Gibbons.
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