The Committee of Safety, established by the Parliamentarians in July 1642, was the first of a number of successive committees set up to oversee 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 ...

against King Charles I, and the

Interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of revolutionary breach of legal continuity, discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one m ...

1642–1644

The initial committee of safety consisted of five members of the House of Lords: the Earls of

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

and Pembroke and Viscount Saye-and-Sele, and ten members of the House of Commons: Nathaniel Fiennes, John Glynn,

John Hampden John Hampden (24 June 1643) was an English politician from Oxfordshire, who was killed fighting for Roundhead, Parliament in the First English Civil War. An ally of Parliamentarian leader John Pym, and a cousin of Oliver Cromwell, he was one of ...

, Denzil Holles, Henry Marten, Sir John Merrick, William Pierrepoint,

John Pym John Pym (20 May 1584 – 8 December 1643) was an English politician and administrator who played a major role in establishing what would become the modern Westminster system, English Parliamentary system. One of the Five Members whose attempte ...

, Sir Philip Stapleton, and Sir William Waller. It sat until 1644 when Parliament and their new Scottish allies agreed to replace it with the Committee of Both Kingdoms.Robert Plant
The Committee of Safety

Retrieved 2009-11-25

1647

The

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

s in the House of Commons set up a new committee of safety, to coordinate defence of London and Parliament from the

New Model Army The New Model Army or New Modelled Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 t ...

which was advancing on London with demands that the Presbyterians did not wish to meet. When it became clear that the populace did not support them, the committee was dissolved and the Presbyterians fled.

1659

There were two committees of safety in 1659. The first was set up on 7 May, on the authority of the

Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament describes the members of the Long Parliament who remained in session after Colonel Thomas Pride, on 6 December 1648, commanded his soldiers to Pride's Purge, purge the House of Commons of those Members of Parliament, members ...

, to replace the Lord Protector

Richard Cromwell Richard Cromwell (4 October 162612 July 1712) was an English statesman who served as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1658 to 1659. He was the son of Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell. Following his father ...

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

. It initially had seven members Charles Fleetwood, Sir Arthur Hesilrige, Sir

Henry Vane the Younger Sir Henry Vane (baptised 26 March 161314 June 1662), often referred to as Harry Vane and Henry Vane the Younger to distinguish him from his father, Henry Vane the Elder, was an England, English politician, statesman, and colonial governor. He ...

Edmund Ludlow Edmund Ludlow (c. 1617–1692) was an English parliamentarian, best known for his involvement in the execution of Charles I, and for his ''Memoirs'', which were published posthumously in a rewritten form and which have become a major source ...

, William Sydenham, Richard Salwey, and John Jones. Two days later on 9 May four more men were appointed to the committee John Lambert, John Desborough, James Berry and Thomas Scot. It was only a temporary expediency and was dissolved two weeks later when on 19 May a new Council of State was appointed.England: Committees of Safety: 1659-1660

archontology.org website
, Retrieved 2009-11-25 The last Committee of Safety was set up on 26 October 1659 by the high command of the

just before the Restoration. It was set up in response to the Rump Parliament which the day before tried to place the commander of the army Charles Fleetwood as chief of a military council under the authority of the speaker. The members of the last committee were:Ben Cahoo
United Kingdom, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, history, rulers, politics, government
2000 (Retrieved 2009-11-25) * Henry Vane the YoungerSat on both 1659 committees * Bulstrode Whitelocke * William Sydenham * John Lambert * James Berry * Lord Warriston (Archibald Johnston) * Edmund Ludlow * Richard Salwey * John Desborough * Charles Fleetwood * Sir James Harrington * William Steele * Walter Strickland * Henry Lawrence * John Ireton * Robert Tichborne * Henry Brandrith * Robert Thomson * John Hewson * John Clark (or John Clerk) * Robert Lilburne * Robert Bennet * Cornelius Holland

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:English Committee Of Safety English Civil War Republicanism in England 1642 establishments in England