John
Lambert was born in Yorkshire in 1619. He studied law but joined the
Parliamentary forces on the outbreak of the Civil
War.
He served under General Thomas
Fairfax
and
in 1643 was given command of the cavalry in Yorkshire. Lambert fought
at Hull (1643), Nantwich (1644), Marston
Moor (1644)
and Oxford (1646).
In
July 1647 Lambert was placed in command of the Northern Forces. Later
that year he worked closely with Henry
Ireton against
the Presbyterians and the Levellers.
Lambert
also played a major role in the campaigns against the Scots. He was
wounded at Musselburgh (July, 1650) but recovered and defeated Sir
John Brown at Inverkeithing on 20th July, 1651. Lambert also fought
at Worcester, the last great battle of the Civil
War.
In
1652 Oliver
Cromwell rewarded
Lambert for his many military victories by appointing him Deputy Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland. When Cromwell closed
down the House of Commons in 1655, he imposed
military rule. England was divided into eleven districts. Each district
was run by a Major General. This included Lambert, who was based in
York, and his responsibilities included maintaining
order, collecting taxes, granting poor relief and imposing Puritan
morality.
Lambert was opposed to
Cromwell being appointed Lord Protector. He refused to take the oath
of loyalty and resigned from office. Lambert retired to Wimbledon
where he spent his time painting and gardening.
In 1659 Lambert joined
John Desborough
and Charles
Fleetwood
to help remove Richard
Cromwell
as Lord Protector
of the Commonwealth. Parliament
and the leaders of the army now began arguing amongst themselves about
how England should be ruled. General George
Monck, the officer in charge of the English army based in Scotland,
decided to take action, and in 1659 he marched on London.
When Monck arrived he reinstated
the House of Lords and the Parliament of
1640. Royalists were now in control of Parliament. Monck
now contacted Charles
II, who was living
in Holland. Charles agreed that if he was made king he would pardon
all members of the parliamentary army and would continue with the
Commonwealth's policy of religious toleration.
Lambert attempted to arouse
resistance to the restoration of the monarchy. He marched against
George Monck in November 1659 but his army
deserted and he was imprisoned in the Tower
of London. Later he was transferred to Guernsey. After spending
24 years in prison John Lambert died on Drake's Island in February,
1684.
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