From: Tim Powys-Lybbe <tim@powys.org> > I share your relationship to Cromwell's line but, like Roy, I would like > to be his descendant. Cromwell brought order out of chaos. While he > was a butcher in Ireland, in other respects he was moderate and > tolerant. He did not have time for the many fanatics that were around > and struggled with the problem of how to install a non-monarchical > government that could survive. He may have failed in his lifetime but > his legacy lives on in the dictum that 'Parliament is Sovereign' and > decides both laws and monarchs. > > Read his writings and the biographies of him and perhaps you will > understand why he is held in such respect. > > "Paint me as I am, warts and all" - O. Cromwell. > > -- > Tim Powys-Lybbe tim@powys.org > for a miscellany of bygones: http://powys.org/> I agree with Tim. Oliver Cromwell was a great man of his time and much misunderstood and maligned. Apart from the things Tim mentions, Cromwell came from literally nowhere, an obscure country squire with no real military background or experience, to found the first fully professional army in British history, the New Model Army, which was the origins of the British Army as we know it today. Without the dedication and foresight of Cromwell, Charles I and his Royalists would probably have won the Civil War and the absolute rule of tyrannical monarchy would have lasted much longer than it did. Cromwell, as I said, was a man of his time - and people's actions can only ever be judged by the social mores and standards that existed at the time, not with the advantage of hindsight and a mindset of modern values. The suppression of Ireland had begun long before Cromwell came on the scene. -- Roy Stockdill Genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer Famous family trees blog: http://blog.findmypast.co.uk/tag/roy-stockdill/ "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE

> -----Original Message----- > From: genbrit-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:genbrit- > bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of roy.stockdill@btinternet.com > Sent: 31 July 2013 10:58 > To: genbrit@rootsweb.com; Tim Powys-Lybbe > Subject: Re: How many living descendants are there of Oliver Cromwell? > > From: Tim Powys-Lybbe <tim@powys.org> > > > I share your relationship to Cromwell's line but, like Roy, I would > > like to be his descendant. Cromwell brought order out of chaos. > > While he was a butcher in Ireland, in other respects he was moderate > > and tolerant. He did not have time for the many fanatics that were > > around and struggled with the problem of how to install a > > non-monarchical government that could survive. He may have failed in > > his lifetime but his legacy lives on in the dictum that 'Parliament is > > Sovereign' and decides both laws and monarchs. > > > > Read his writings and the biographies of him and perhaps you will > > understand why he is held in such respect. > > > > "Paint me as I am, warts and all" - O. Cromwell. > > > > -- > > Tim Powys-Lybbe tim@powys.org > > for a miscellany of bygones: http://powys.org/> > > I agree with Tim. Oliver Cromwell was a great man of his time and much > misunderstood and maligned. > > Apart from the things Tim mentions, Cromwell came from literally nowhere, > an obscure country squire with no real military background or experience, to > found the first fully professional army in British history, the New Model > Army, which was the origins of the British Army as we know it today. Without > the dedication and foresight of Cromwell, Charles I and his Royalists would > probably have won the Civil War and the absolute rule of tyrannical > monarchy would have lasted much longer than it did. > > Cromwell, as I said, was a man of his time - and people's actions can only ever > be judged by the social mores and standards that existed at the time, not > with the advantage of hindsight and a mindset of modern values. The > suppression of Ireland had begun long before Cromwell came on the scene. > > -- > Roy Stockdill > Genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer > Famous family trees blog: http://blog.findmypast.co.uk/tag/roy-stockdill/ > I also agree with Tim and Roy that Oliver Cromwell has been misunderstood and that he fought the Irish campaign by the tenets of his day. However, he didn't found the New Model Army; this was set up by Parliament under the command of Black Tom Fairfax of Nun Appleton with Cromwell as Lieutenant-General of Cavalry and subordinate to Fairfax. This was the situation throughout the English Civil war. In 1650, when the Scots declared for Charles II, Parliament decided to send an army to Scotland to prevent the Scots invading England. Fairfax disagreed with this decision and resigned his commission. Cromwell was appointed as his successor. Fairfax was widely regarded as a man of great integrity and was instrumental in the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. -- Kushti bok, Chris Westmoreland