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Thomas Pride | |
|---|---|
 Colonel Pride refusing admission to the secluded members of the Long Parliament, December 1648 | |
| High Sheriff of Surrey | |
| In office 1655–1656 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1606–1608 Ashcott, Somerset, England |
| Died | 23 October 1658(1658-10-23) (aged 52) Worcester Park House, Surrey, England |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Tomson (1629 to his death) |
| Children | Thomas, Joseph, William, Samuel, Elizabeth |
| Residence | Worcester Park House |
| Occupation | Political and religious radical, regicide and Parliamentarian soldier |
| Military service | |
| Years of service | 1642 to 1654 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Battles/wars | Wars of the Three Kingdoms First Newbury; Lostwithiel; Naseby; Langport; Torrington; Oxford; Preston; Dunbar; Worcester |
Colonel Thomas Pride (died 23 October 1658) was a Parliamentarian commander during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, best known as one of the regicides of Charles I and as the instigator of Pride's Purge.
Personal details
Thomas Pride was born in Ashcott, Somerset, son of William Pride, a local tradesman. His exact date of birth is unknown but he was apprenticed to a City of London merchant in January 1622 and since the normal age for this was between 14 and 17 years old, he was probably born between 1606 and 1608.[1]
Shortly after his seven-year apprenticeship finished in 1629, he married Elizabeth Tomson, daughter of another London merchant. His 1658 will made bequests to four sons, Thomas, Joseph, William and Samuel, and a daughter, Elizabeth.[2]
Career
Pride went into business for himself as a brewer and by the early 1640s owned two brewhouses in Surrey and possibly one in Edinburgh. He was also an ensign in the London Trained bands and when the First English Civil War began in August 1642, he served as a captain in the New Model Army under Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, and was eventually promoted to the rank of colonel. He distinguished himself at the Battle of Preston in 1648 and with his regiment took part in the military occupation of London in December 1648, which was the first step towards bringing King Charles I to trial.[3]
Trial of King Charles I
The next step was the expulsion of the Presbyterian and Royalist elements in the House of Commons, who were thought to be prepared to reach a settlement with Charles. This action was resolved by the army council and ordered by the lord general, Fairfax, and was carried out by Colonel Pride's regiment. Taking his stand at the entrance of the House of Commons with a written list in his hand, he caused the arrest or exclusion of the members, who were pointed out to him. After about a hundred members had been thus dealt with, the reduced House of Commons, now reduced to about eighty in number, proceeded to bring the king to trial.[3] This marked the end of the Long Parliament and the beginning of the Rump Parliament.
Pride was one of the trial judges and one of the regicides of King Charles I, having signed and sealed the king's death warrant. His coat of arms appears on his seal.[3]
Subsequent career
Pride commanded an infantry brigade under Oliver Cromwell at the Battle of Dunbar (1650) and at the Battle of Worcester (1651).[3] He purchased the estate of Nonsuch Palace in Surrey, and in 1655 was appointed Sheriff of Surrey.
Retirement and knighthood
When the Commonwealth of England was established he abandoned his involvement in politics, except in opposing the proposal to confer the kingly dignity on Cromwell. In 1656 he was knighted by Cromwell, then Lord Protector, and was appointed to the second house added to Parliament[3] as a result of the Humble Petition and Advice.
Marriage
He married Elizabeth Monk (born 1628), a daughter of Thomas Monk of Potheridge in Devon by his wife Mary Gould, a daughter of William Gould of Hayes.[4] Elizabeth's uncle was the royalist general George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle (1608–1670), KG, the key figure in effecting the Restoration of the Monarchy to King Charles II in 1660.
Death
Pride died in 1658 at his home of Worcester Park House, having bought it and the "Great Park" of Nonsuch Palace, Surrey.[5] After the Restoration of 1660 his body was ordered dug up and suspended on the gallows at Tyburn along with those of Cromwell, Henry Ireton and John Bradshaw, though it is said that the sentence was not carried out,[3] probably because his corpse was too far decayed.
Bibliography
- Mark Noble, The lives of the English regicides. 1798.
- George Bate, The lives, actions, and execution of the prime actors, and principall contrivers of that horrid murder of our late pious and sacred soveraigne, King Charles the First. 1661.
- Thomas Carlyle, Oliver Cromwell's letters and speeches[3] 1845.
References
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (January 2021) |
- ^ Wallis, Webb & Minns 2009, pp. 3–4.
- ^ TNA. "Will of Thomas Lord Pride or Pride of Worcester House, Surrey". The National Archives. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Pride, Thomas". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 315.
- ^ Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p.419
- ^ The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, for the Year ... Edw. Cave, 1736-[1868]. 1837.
Sources
- Gentles, Ian (2004). "Pride, Thomas, appointed Lord Pride under the Protectorate". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/22781. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- Hodkinson, Robert (2017). Cromwell's Buffoon: The Life and Career of the Regicide, Thomas Pride. Helion & Company. ISBN 978-1911512110.
- TNA. "Will of Thomas Lord Pride or Pride of Worcester House, Surrey". The National Archives. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- Wallis, Patrick; Webb, Cliff; Minns, Chris (2009). Leaving Home and Entering Service: The Age of Apprenticeship in Early Modern London (PDF) (Working Paper). LSE.
1 Annotation
First Reading
Rob Hodkinson • Link
Thomas Pride (c.1608-1658) was the son of a yeoman from Pedwell, Somerset. He moved to London in 1622 to be apprenticed to a haberdasher and later set up a successful business as a brewer in the captal during the 1630s. He was a religious non-conformist, belonging to a London sect that preached adult baptism. The Henry Jacob church to which he belonged was based in Southwark. It was repressed by Archbishop Laud in 1633 and many of the congregation were imprisoned.
Thomas Pride fought throughout the English Civil War, serving at first as an ensign in the Red regiment of the London Trained Bands. In 1643 he enlisted as a Captain in Colonel Barclay's regiment of foot in the army of the Earl of Essex and was a Major by 1644. He saw action at both battles of Newbury (1643 and 1644) and at Lostwithiel in Cornwall (1644). On the formation of the New Model Army in 1645, General Fairfax promoted Pride to Lieutenant-Colonel in Colonel Harley's regiment despite the opposition of the House of Lords to Pride’s political and religious views. In Colonel Harley’s absence Pride commanded the regiment with distinction at the battle of Naseby, holding firm against the Royalist advance while other regiments gave ground. Pride continued to command the regiment at the storming of Bristol, Dartmouth and the battle of Great Torrington (1646).
During the political upheavals of 1647, following the war, Pride was one of the the officers most active in supporting the soldiers' right to petition Parliament for redress of their grievances. Colonel Harley discovered that Pride was collecting the siganatures of soldiers by force and Pride was summoned to appear before Parliament to explain his conduct. He remained defiant and was active in organising the Army Petition signed by 150 officers who continued to support soldiers' rights. Loosing the confidence of his men, Colonel Harley resigned his commission. Pride was promoted to Colonel and took over command of the regiment. Thereafter, he and his regiment remained in London, quartered in St. James’ Palace. Pride was now able to impose his own moral views on the capital, closing down the brothels in Southwark and repressing gambling.
During the Second Civil War, Pride fought under Cromwell at the siege of Pembroke and the battle of Preston. Returning to London, he proved to be one of the most radical army officers, demanding that Charles I answer for his part in starting and continuing the wars. Pride commanded the troops that marched on Parliament in December 1648 to eject the Prebyterian MPs who continued to favour a negotiated settlement with the King. This event became known as Pride's Purge. Those MPs who remained in the House voted to bring Charles I to trial. Appointed to the High Court of Justice, Pride sat as a judge at Charles' Trial and was one of the 59 signatories of his death warrant.
In 1650, Pride commanded a brigade at the battle of Dunbar and his regiment fought at Worcester in 1651. Following the war he resumed his business interests, heading a group of brewers who supplied the navy with beer. He became involved in local politics in London and became governor of several hospitals in the city. He retained command of his regiment, however, and Pride’s men fought in the Dutch War of 1653-54 and were later stationed in Scotland during the Royalist uprising of Glencairn.
In lieu of payment for their war service, Parliament granted Pride and his regiment the confiscated Royal property of Nonsuch Great Park (otherwise known as Worcester Park) in Surrey where Pride took up residence. Pride was appointed High Sheriff of Surrey in 1655 and was knighted by Cromwell in 1656. In 1658 he was appointed to the Upper House in 1658, prompting accusations of hypocrisy from Royalists. After Cromwell’s death, Pride supported Richard Cromwell’s succession as Lord Protector.
Thomas Pride died at the end of October 1658.
At the Restoration, Pride was posthumously attainted a traitor. Like Cromwell, Ireton and Bradshaw, his body was voted to be exhumed and hung in chains at Tyburn (see Pepys’ Diary, 28 January 1660 ). However, Pride’s body apparently escaped this indignity. The bodies of Cromwell, Ireton and Bradshaw were all exhumed from Westminster Abbey. Pride’s was presumably harder to locate and remained undisturbed. The likelihood is that Pride was buried on his Worcester Park estate; the religious non-conformist was buried in unconsecrated ground in a grave that has now disappeared without trace.
Thomas Pride’s daughter, Elizabeth, married Robert Walton, a London tailor. He is the “young Mr. Walton” refered to in Pepys’ diary on 2 January 1659/60.