William Packer (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1644–1662) was a religious radical and soldier who served with the Parliamentarian Army in the

Wars of the Three Kingdoms The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, then separate entities in a personal union un ...

. Under the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

, he was deputy administrator for

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

and

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

during the 1655 to 1657 Rule of the Major Generals.

Career

Enlisted in the Eastern Association army, Packer was a trusted lieutenant in

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 ...

's cavalry regiment by 1644. A religious radical, Packer clashed with Major-General Lawrence Crawford, who had him arrested for disobedience. Cromwell intervened to have him released, leading to a bitter dispute between Cromwell and Crawford. On the formation of 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 ...

in 1645, Packer became a captain in Fairfax's regiment of Horse. He was with Fairfax at the

siege of Colchester The siege of Colchester occurred in the summer of 1648 when the Second English Civil War reignited in several areas of Britain. Colchester found itself in the thick of the unrest when a Cavalier, Royalist army on its way through East Angli ...

in 1648 and served as a major in Cromwell's regiment in the Scottish campaign of 1650. 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 ...

(1655), he deputised for

Charles Fleetwood Charles Fleetwood ( 1618 – 4 October 1692) was an English lawyer from Northamptonshire, who served with the Parliamentarian army during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A close associate of Oliver Cromwell, to whom he was related by marriage ...

as military governor of

and

Preacher

During the early 1650s, Packer was associated with the London congregation of the

Fifth Monarchist The Fifth Monarchists, or Fifth Monarchy Men, were a Protestant sect with millennialist views active between 1649 and 1660 in the Commonwealth of England. The group took its name from a prophecy that claimed the four kingdoms of Daniel would p ...

John Simpson. Packer was a noted lay preacher and received a licence to preach from the

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 ...

in 1653. He was appointed a "Trier" to vet candidates for the clergy in 1654. Packer emerged as one of the most extreme of the Major-Generals. He denounced the celebration of Christmas in 1656 and violently attacked a

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

who appeared before him drunk. He argued against freedom of worship to the

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

Politician

Packer was elected to the

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first sess ...

as MP for

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

, Oxfordshire, but he had grown discontented with Cromwell's policies. He argued with Cromwell over the instigation of the

Upper House An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

and was deprived of his commands in 1658. Elected to the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a po ...

in 1659, Packer delivered a speech in which he expressed his profound sense of betrayal by the Cromwellian régime and regret for some of his own actions as a major-general. He was briefly imprisoned at the Restoration.

References

* Plant, David
William Packer, Major-General
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from th

References

English generals Parliamentarian military personnel of the English Civil War Year of death unknown English MPs 1656–1658 English MPs 1659 Year of birth unknown Major generals {{1659-England-MP-stub

Career

Preacher

Politician

References

Further reading

References