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Sir Gilbert Pickering | |
|---|---|
 St Mary the Virgin, Titchmarsh, Pickering's burial place | |
| Lord Chamberlain | |
| In office 1655–1659 | |
| English Council of State/Committee of Safety | |
| In office 1649–1660 | |
| Member of Parliament for Northamptonshire | |
| In office April 1640 – May 1660 [a] | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 March 1611 Titchmarsh, Northamptonshire |
| Died | 17 October 1668(1668-10-17) (aged 57) Titchmarsh, Northamptonshire |
| Resting place | St. Mary the Virgin, Titchmarsh |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Montagu (1638–1668 his death) |
| Relations | Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich (brother-in-law) John Dryden (cousin) |
| Children | Eight sons, four daughters |
| Alma mater | Emmanuel College, Cambridge Gray's Inn |
| Occupation | Politician and religious radical |
Sir Gilbert Pickering, 1st Baronet, 10 March 1611 to 17 October 1668, was a member of the landed gentry from Northamptonshire, and a religious Independent who supported Parliament in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. An MP for Northamptonshire for most of the period from 1640 to 1660, during the 1649 to 1660 Interregnum he also served as Lord Chamberlain, sat on the English Council of State, and was appointed to Cromwell's Upper House in 1658.
Although appointed a judge at the Trial of Charles I in January 1649, Pickering attended only two sessions and did not sign the Execution warrant, which saved him from being classed as a regicide following the 1660 Stuart Restoration. He received a pardon with the help of his brother-in-law Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich, but was banned from holding public office, and died at home in October 1668.
Personal details
Gilbert Pickering was born 10 March 1611 in Titchmarsh, Northamptonshire, eldest son of Sir John Pickering (1585–1628), and Susannah Dryden (d.1661). A devout Puritan, his father was arrested in January 1627 for refusing to pay "loans" imposed by Charles I, and although released from prison a few months later due to illness, died in January 1628. Gilbert had two younger brothers, John (1615–1645), who became a colonel in the New Model Army and died of fever on active service, and Edward (1617–1698), as well as a sister Mary (1615–?).[1]
In May 1638, Pickering married Elizabeth Montagu (d.1679), daughter of Sir Sidney Montagu, a judge in the Court of Requests. They had eight sons and four daughters, including his eldest child and heir John (1640–1703), Elizabeth (1642–1728), Oliver (1645–1669), Montegue (1654–1694).[2]
Career
Pickering graduated from Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1625, entered Gray's Inn to study law in 1629, and shortly after his 1638 marriage purchased a baronetcy in Novia Scotia.[2] Like his brother John, he was originally a Presbyterian, who wanted to restructure the Church of England along lines similar to the reformed Church of Scotland established by the Covenanters in 1639. He later became a religious Independent, one of those who rejected any State religion, and was suspected of being an Anabaptist, a sect viewed as heretical by other Protestants, and widely persecuted in both Europe and the New England Colonies as a result.[3]
First elected as MP for Northamptonshire in April 1640, Pickering retained this seat in every Parliament until April 1660. When the First English Civil War began in August 1642, he joined the Parliamentarian Committee for Northamptonshire, and was most active as "a sequester and committee man". In late 1644, he supported Oliver Cromwell's criticisms of Essex and Manchester, the former for his defeat at Lostwithiel, the latter for failing to exploit victory at Marston Moor and bungling the Second Battle of Newbury. John Pickering, who fought at Marston Moor and Newbury, was one of the witnesses on whom Cromwell relied in the attack on Manchester that led to his removal under the Self-denying Ordinance.[4]
Parliament's victory in 1646 was followed by two years of arguments over the peace settlement between moderate Presbyterians and the leadership of the New Model Army. Although Pickering largely avoided involvement, as an Independent he was generally viewed as an Army supporter,[b] and thus kept his seat in the Rump Parliament established after Pride's Purge in December 1648. He was appointed one of the judges in the January 1649 trial of Charles I, but only attended two sessions and did not sign the death warrant.
He remained MP for Northamptonshire through the Interregnum 1648–1660 and was appointed Lord Chamberlain to Oliver Cromwell in 1657. His public career ended in 1660. With the help of his brother-in-law Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich, Pickering obtained a pardon from King Charles II. The original of the pardon delivered by Charles II on vellum in Latin is in the Pitts Theology Library of Emory University, MS no 109.
Pickering was also cousin to the poet, John Dryden, who grew up in Titchmarsh; monuments to Dryden and his parents were erected at Titchmarsh by his daughter Elizabeth, whose 1668 marriage was attended by her distant relative, Samuel Pepys. Sir Gilbert and his descendants are commemorated by tombs and memorials in Saint Mary the Virgin, Titchmarsh.[5]
Notes
- ^ Re-elected as MP for Northamptonshire in the 1656 Second Protectorate Parliament, Pickering was elevated to Cromwell's Other House in December 1657, but resumed his seat when the Rump Parliament was reinstalled in May 1659
- ^ Independents were characterised by opposition to any state church, and included senior military leaders like Cromwell, Henry Ireton, and Thomas Harrison
References
- ^ Moseley & Sgroi 2010.
- ^ a b Venning 2004.
- ^ Preheim, Rick (19 June 2004). "Atonement For 2 Centuries Of Persecution". Washington Post. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
- ^ Hamilton 1890, p. 155.
- ^ Information in this paragraph is derived from Victoria County History, Northants III (1930), 142-149.
Sources
- Hamilton, W.D, ed. (1890). Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Charles I, 1644-1645, Volume 503, November to December 1644. HMSO.
- Moseley, Virginia; Sgroi, Rosemary (2010). PICKERING, Sir John (1585-1628), of Titchmarsh, Northants in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604–1629. CUP. ISBN 978-1107002258.
- Roberts, Keith (2004). "Pickering, John (bap. 1615, d. 1645)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/22210. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- Venning, Keith (2004). "Pickering, Sir Gilbert, first baronet, appointed Lord Pickering under the Protectorate (1611-1668)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/22207. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- Willmott, Robert Aris (1839). Lives of Sacred Poets.
7 Annotations
First Reading
Lynn • Link
Gilbert Pickering was born in 1613. The son of Sir John Pickering, of Titchmarsh, Northamptonshire and his wife Susannah, daughter of Sir Erasmus Dryden. He entered Gray's Inn on November 6, 1629. He was married twice: first to the daughter of Sir Sidney Montagu, Elizabeth; and secondly, to a daughter of John Pepys of Cambridgeshire. He was later created a baronet of Nova Scotia. Pickering became a member of Parliament for the county of Northampton. He represented this county in the Short Parliament (April 13 to May 5, 1640) and the Long Parliament (November 1640 to April 1653). When Charles raised his standard at Nottingham on August 22, 1642, Pickering abandoned the king for the parliamentary cause. He was very active in raising money and recruiting troops and soon was appointed to the parliamentary committee. In 1648, he was appointed one of the judges in the trial of Charles I. He did not sign the king's death warrant and only attended two sessions of the court. Pickering remained the representative for Northampton throughout the Interregnum (1648-1660). In the parliamentary election of 1655, it was claimed that he used illegal force to obtain his seat. He was appointed lord chamberlain to the Protector in 1657. He signed the proclamation recognizing Richard Cromwell as his father's heir and served in his government as well. His public career ended with the restoration of the Stuarts in 1660. Through the intercession of his brother-in-law, Edward Montagu, Earl of Sandwich, Pickering was removed from the list of Cromwellian supporters to be punished by the Act of Indemnity and Oblivion (1660), this was act designed to punish the regicides and restore the fortunes of loyal Cavaliers. Sandwich went further and was instrumental in obtaining a pardon from Charles II for Pickering. For his part in the rebellion, Sir Gilbert was barred from holding public office for the remainder of his life. Sir Gilbert Pickering died on October 21, 1668 and was succeeded by his son, John.
vicenzo • Link
here is one of Pickerings oppinion in another diary
Sir Gilbert Pickering. If a man shall renounce the supremacy of the Pope, and haply, in his own private opinion, may hold purgatory or some other thing in the oath, it is hard that for this he should be sequestered. I would have no man suffer for his bare opinion
From: British History Online
Source: The Diary of Thomas Burton: 3 December 1656. Diary of Thomas Burton esq, volume 1, John Towill Rutt (editor) (1828).
URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…
Date: 09/03/2005
Terry Foreman • Link
"Sir Gilbert Pickering died on October 21, 1668"
L&M, in a footnote to the Diary entry of October 21, where Pepys records "I hear that Sir Gilbert Pickering is lately dead, about three days since," say Pickering was buried on October 17. http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
Second Reading
Bill • Link
For a family tree of Sir Gilbert Pickering: http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Pers…
Bill • Link
PICKERING, Sir GILBERT, first baronet (1613-1668), parliamentarian; of Gray's Inn, 1629; M.P. Northamptonshire, in the Short and Long Parliaments and in those of the Commonwealth; active at the beginning of the civil war in raising troops and money in his county; sided with the army, 1648, and was appointed one of Charles I's judges, but attended only at first and did not sign the death-warrant; member of council of state under the Commonwealth; escaped punishment after the Restoration, but was declared incapable of holding office; was a baronet of Nova Scotia.
---Dictionary of National Biography: Index and Epitome. S. Lee, 1906.
San Diego Sarah • Link
From THE LIFE OF JOHN DRYDEN by REV. GEORGE GILFILLAN
In 1657, aged about 26, John Dryden moved to London, "clad in homely drugget," and with more projects in his head than money in his pocket.
He employed by his relative, Sir Gilbert Pickering -- called the "Fiery Pickering" from his Roundhead zeal -- as a clerk or secretary. Here he met Oliver Cromwell and saw those great qualities of sagacity, determination, courage, statesmanship, insight and genuine godliness, which made him, next to Alfred the Great, the first English monarch to sit on the English throne.
When Cromwell died, Dryden wrote and published his Heroic Stanzas.
When Richard Cromwell resigned, John Dryden and most of the nation saw the cause was lost, and took his talents to the winning side. But he never retracted the praise he gave to Oliver Cromwell. In "Absalom and Achitophel" he sneers at Richard Cromwell as Ishbosheth, but says nothing against the deceased giant Saul.
Dryden’s desertion was at first his loss: he lost their favor (should a reaction come), and he lost his position and the shelter of Sir Gilbert Pickering's princely mansion.
John Dryden went to live in the obscure house of a Mr. Herringman, a bookseller in the New Exchange, and became a professional author.
Dryden's poem on the “Coronation of Charles” was designed to wipe away the stain of Cromwellism, and to attract the new King's eye, whose glory he sang with more zeal than truth. He was considered consequential enough to be elected a member of the Royal Society in 1662.
Lots more about Dryden but nothing more about Pickering at https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/d/…
Third Reading
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Fiery Pickering" evidently did very well financially under Cromwell -- he built a house next door to Wallingford House on Whitehall:
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
His reduced circumstances at the start of the Diary, when he was in danger of being hanged, drawn and quartered as a Regicide, must have been terrifying.