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He left Oxford, without a degree, for the Middle Temple, and was called to the bar in 1626 and chosen treasurer in 1628. He was fond of field sports and of music, and in 1633 he had charge of the music in the great masque performed by the inns of court before the king and queen. Meanwhile he had been elected for Stafford in the parliament of 1626 and had been appointed recorder of Abingdon and HenleyHenley-on-Thames is a town on the north side of the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England. Henley is a town in the South Islandof New Zealand. Henley Royal Regatta is a rowing event held every year on the river Thames.. In 1640 he was chosen member for Great Marlow in the Long ParliamentThe Long Parliament is the name of the English Parliament called by Charles I, in 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It receives its name from the fact that it sat almost continuously during the English Civil War until 1660. The sole reason Charles reasse.
He took a prominent part in the proceedings against Strafford, was chairman of the committee of management, and had charge of articles XIX.-XXIV. of the impeachment. He drew up the bill for making parliaments indissoluble except by their own consent, and supported the Grand Remonstrance and the action taken in the Commons against the illegal canons; on the militia question, however, he advocated a joint control by king and parliament. On the outbreak of the Great Rebellion he took the side of the parliament, using his influence in the country as deputy-lieutenant to prevent the king's raising troops in BuckinghamshireBuckinghamshire (abbreviated Bucks is a county in south central England. The county town is Aylesbury. Buckinghamshire is divided into four districts: Aylesbury Vale, Chiltern, South Bucks and Wycombe. The ceremonial county (which is based on the post- 19 and OxfordshireOxfordshire (abbreviated Oxon from Latin Oxonia is a county in South East England, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Warwickshire. It is divided into five local government districts Oxford, Cherwell,.
He was sent to the king at OxfordThis is about the city of Oxford in England. See also other meanings, including other cities. Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 ( 2001 census). Its latitude and longitude are 51°45'07" N a both in 1643 and 1644 to negotiate terms, and the secret communications with CharlesCharles I ( 19 November 1600 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625, until his death. He famously engaged in a struggle for power with Parliament; he was an advocate of the divine right of kings, but his foes in Parl on the latter occasion were the foundation of a charge of treasonIn law, treason is the crime of disloyalty to one's nation. A person who reneges on an oath of loyalty or a pledge of allegiance, and in some way willfully cooperates with an enemy, is considered to be a traitor . Oran's Dictionary of the Law ( 1983) defi brought against Whitelocke and Denzil Holles later. He was again one of the commissioners at Uxbridge in 1645.
Nevertheless he opposed the policy of Holles and the peace party and the proposed disbanding of the army in 1647, and though one of the lay members of the assembly of divines, repudiated the claims of divine authority put forward by the Presbyterians for their church, and approved of religious tolerance. He thus gravitated more towards Cromwell and the army party, but he took no part either in the disputes between the army and the parliament or in the trial of the king. On the establishment of the Commonwealth, though out of sympathy with the government, he was nominated to the council of state and a commissioner of the new Great Seal.
He urged Cromwell after the battle of Worcester and again in 1652 to recall the royal family, while in 1653 he disapproved of the expulsion of the Long Parliament and was especially marked out for attack by Cromwell in his speech on that occasion. Later in the autumn, and perhaps in consequence, Whitelocke was despatched on a mission to Christina, queen of Sweden, to conclude a treaty of alliance and assure the freedom of the Sound. On his return he resumed his office as commissioner of the Great Seal, was appointed a commissioner of the treasury with a salary of 1000, and was returned to the parliament of 1654 for each of the four constituencies of Bedford, Exeter, Oxford and Buckinghamshire, electing to sit for the latter constituency.
Whitelocke was a learned and a sound lawyer. He had hitherto shown himself not unfavourable to reform, having supported the bill introducing the use of English into legal proceedings, having drafted a new treason law, and set on foot some alterations in chancery procedure. A tract advocating tie registering of title-deeds is attributed to him. But he opposed the revolutionary innovations dictated by ignorant and popular prejudices. He defeated the strange bill which sought to exclude lawyers from parliament; and to the sweeping and ill-considered changes in the court of chancery proposed by Cromwell and the council he offered an unbending and honorable resistance, being dismissed in consequence, together with his colleague Widdrington , on June 6 1654 from his commissionership of the Great Seal (see William Lenthall).
He still, however, remained on good terms with Cromwell, by whom he was respected; he took part in public business, acted as Cromwell's adviser on foreign affairs, negotiated the treaty with Sweden of 1656, and, elected again to the parliament of the same year as member for Buckinghamshire, was chairman of the committee which conferred with Cromwell on the subject of the Petition and Advice and urged the protector to assume the title of king. In December 1657 he became a member of the new House of Lords.
On Richard Cromwell's accession he was reappointed a commissioner of the Great Seal, and had considerable influence during the former's short tenure of power. He returned to his place in the Long Parliament on its recall, was appointed a member of the council of state on May 14, 1659, and became president in August; and subsequently, on the fresh expulsion of the Long Parliament, he was included in the committee of safety which superseded the council. He again received the Great Seal into his keeping on the ist of November. During the period which immediately preceded the Restoration he endeavoured to oppose Monk's schemes, and desired Fleetwood to forestall him and make terms with Charles, but in vain.
On the failure of his plans he retired to the country and awaited events. Whitelocke's career, however, had been marked by moderation and good sense throughout. The necessity of carrying on the government of the country somehow or other had been the chief motive of his adherence to Cromwell rather than any sympathy for a republic or a military dictatorship, and his advice to Cromwell to accept the title of king was doubtless tendered with the object of giving the administration greater stability and of protecting its adherents under the Statute of Henry VII. Nor had he shown himself unduly ambitious or self-seeking in the pursuit of office, and he had proved himself ready to sacrifice high place to the claims of professional honour and duty. These considerations were not without weight with his contemporaries at the Restoration. Accordingly Whitelocke was not excepted from the Act of Indemnity , and after the payment of various sums to the king and others he was allowed to retain the bulk of his property. He lived henceforth in seclusion at Chilton in Wiltshire, dying on the 28th of July 1675.
Whitelocke married (1) Rebecca, daughter of Thomas Bennet, (2) Frances, daughter of Lord Willoughby of Parham, and (3) Mary Carleton, widow of Rowland Wilson, and left children by each of his wives.
He was the author of:
See the article by CH Firth in the Dict. Nat. Biog. with authorities there quoted; Memoirs of B Whitelocke by RH Whitelocke (1860); Henry Reeve's edition of the Swedish Embassy; Foss's Judges of England; Eng. Hist. Rev. xvi. 737; Wood's Ath. Oxon. iii. 1042.
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopędia Britannica. 1911 Britannica
Whitelocke, Bulstrode Whitelocke, Bulstrode