Major General Charles Worsley | |
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.jpg) Major-General Charles Worsley (1622–1656) | |
| Born | (1622-06-24)24 June 1622[1] |
| Died | 12 June 1656(1656-06-12) (aged 33) St. James's, London[1] |
| Resting place | Henry VII's chapel inWestminster Abbey |
| Nationality | English |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Booth (1644–1649) Dorothy Kenyon (1652–1656) |
| Parent(s) | Ralph Worsley and Isabel née Massey |
Charles Worsley (24 June 1622 – 12 June 1656) was an English soldier and politician. He was an ardent supporter ofOliver Cromwell and was an officer in theParliamentary army during theEnglish Civil War and theCommonwealth of England. He sat in theHouse of Commons in 1654 and governed a district during theRule of the Major-Generals.[2]
Worsley was the son of Ralph Worsley, of The Platt,Rusholme and his wife Isabel Massy, daughter of Edward Massy of Manchester.[3] 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 theIsle of Man.
Worsley commanded the detachment used in the expulsion of theLong Parliament[4] in 1653 and took charge of the "bauble" when Cromwell ordered it to be removed.[3]
In 1654, Worsley was elected the firstMember of Parliament forManchester in theFirst Protectorate Parliament.[5][4] During the Rule of the Major-Generals, Worsley governed a district consisting ofCheshire,Lancashire andStaffordshire.[2][4] He confiscated the property ofRoyalists, 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 theHenry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey.[3]
A branch of the Worsley family settled at Platt Hall,Lancashire, now inFallowfield 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 theManchester Corporation, the city then encroaching on its estate. Elizabeth Tindal-Carill-Worsley, who sold the estate, was the granddaughter ofFrancis Sacheverel Darwin, son ofErasmus Darwin. She married Nicolas Tindal of Aylesbury, a great-grandnephew of SirNicholas Conyngham Tindal, Lord Chief Justice of England from 1829 – 1843. Their grandson,Group Captain Nicolas Tindal-Carill-Worsley (known as Tindal), was a bomber pilot in theSecond World War and a major instigator of the "Great Escape". His son, Charles Tindal, is the current representative of the family.[6][7]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1903)."Worsley, Charles".Index and Epitome.Dictionary of National Biography. Cambridge University Press. p. 1437. (see also main entry lxiii 32)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Firth, Charles (1900). "Worsley, Charles". InLee, Sidney (ed.).Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 63. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 32–33.| Parliament of England | ||
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| New constituency | Member of Parliament forManchester 1654 | Succeeded by |
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| National | |
