Charles Worsley (24 June 1622 – 12 June 1656) was an English soldier and politician. He was an ardent supporter of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

and was an officer in the

Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

army during the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

and the

Commonwealth of England The Commonwealth of England was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when Kingdom of England, England and Wales, later along with Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, were governed as a republi ...

. He sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

in 1654 and governed a district during the

Rule of the Major-Generals The Rule of the Major-Generals, was a period of direct military government from August 1655 to January 1657, during Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate. England and Wales were divided into ten regions, each governed by a major-general who answered to ...

Biography

Worsley was the son of Ralph Worsley, of The Platt,

Rusholme Rusholme () is an area of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England, two miles south of the Manchester city centre, city centre. The population of the ward at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 13,643. Rusholme is bounded by Chorl ...

and his wife Isabel Massy, daughter of Edward Massy of Manchester.''Townships: Rusholme'', A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 4 (1911), pp. 303–309. Date accessed: 12 January 2011
/ref> He was a parliamentary captain in Lancashire in 1644. By 1650 he was lieutenant colonel of a regiment raised in Lancashire for Cromwell. In 1651 he was employed in the reduction of the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

. Worsley commanded the detachment used in the expulsion of the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an Parliament of England, English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660, making it the longest-lasting Parliament in English and British history. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened f ...

in 1653 and took charge of the " bauble" when Cromwell ordered it to be removed. In 1654, Worsley was elected the first Member of Parliament for

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

in the

First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the H ...

. During the Rule of the Major-Generals, Worsley governed a district consisting of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

. He confiscated the property of Royalists, put Roman Catholics in jail, suppressed horse-racing, and promoted the public good according to his own ideals. He died suddenly in 1656 at the age of 33 and was buried in the

Henry VII Chapel The Henry VII Lady Chapel, now more often known just as the Henry VII Chapel, is a large Lady chapel at the far eastern end of Westminster Abbey, England, paid for by the will of King Henry VII. It is separated from the rest of the abbey by br ...

in Westminster Abbey.

The Worsley family of Platt Hall

A branch of the Worsley family settled at Platt Hall,

, now in

Fallowfield Fallowfield is a bustling area of Manchester with a population of 14,869 at the United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 census. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it lies south of Manchester city centre and is bisected east&n ...

in the City of Manchester. The hall was bought by Ralph Worsley (1625) from the Platt family. Ralph Worsley's father, Charles, was the great-grandson of Sir Geoffrey Worsley of Boothes and a kinsman of the Worsleys of Worsley Hall (from whom derived the Worsleys of Appuldurcombe and of Hovingham). The family of Charles Worsley remained at Platt Hall until 1906, when it was sold to the Manchester Corporation, the city then encroaching on its estate. Elizabeth Tindal-Carill-Worsley, who sold the estate, was the granddaughter of Francis Sacheverel Darwin, son of

Erasmus Darwin Erasmus Robert Darwin (12 December 173118 April 1802) was an English physician. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosophy, natural philosopher, physiology, physiologist, Society for Effecting the ...

. She married Nicolas Tindal of Aylesbury, a great-grandnephew of Sir

Nicholas Conyngham Tindal Sir Nicolas Conyngham Tindal, PC (12 December 1776 – 6 July 1846) was a celebrated English lawyer who successfully defended the then Queen of the United Kingdom, Caroline of Brunswick, at her trial for adultery in 1820. As Chief Justic ...

, Lord Chief Justice of England from 1829 – 1843. Their grandson, Group Captain Nicolas Tindal-Carill-Worsley (known as Tindal), was a bomber pilot in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and a major instigator of the " Great Escape". His son, Charles Tindal, is the current representative of the family.

Notes

References

* * ;Attribution * (see also main entry lxiii 32) *

Biography

The Worsley family of Platt Hall

Notes

References

Further reading