John Hampden

John Hampden
Committee of Safety
In office
July 1642 – June 1643  
Member of Parliament
for Buckinghamshire
In office
April 1640 – December 1643  
Member of Parliament
for Wendover
In office
1624–1629
Member of Parliament
for Grampound
In office
1621–1622
Personal details
Bornc. June 1595
London, England
Died24 June 1643(1643-06-24) (aged 48)
Thame, Oxfordshire
Resting placeGreat Hampden
Spouse(s)Elizabeth Symeon (1619–1631)
Letitia Knollys (1640–1643)
RelationsOliver Cromwell;
ChildrenAnn (1616–1701); Elizabeth (1619–1643); John (1621–1642); William (died 1675); Ruth (1628–1687); Mary (1630–1689); Richard (1631–1695)
Parent(s)William Hampden (1570–1597); Elizabeth Cromwell (1574–1664);
Alma materMagdalen College, Oxford
OccupationPolitician, military officer
Signature
Military service
AllegianceKingdom of England Parliamentarians
Branch/serviceInfantry
Years of service1642–43
RankColonel
UnitHampden’s Regiment of Foot
Battles/wars

John Hampden (c. June 1595 – 24 June 1643) was an English politician from Oxfordshire, who was killed fighting for Parliament in the First English Civil War. An ally of Parliamentarian leader John Pym, and a cousin of Oliver Cromwell, he was one of the Five Members whom Charles I of England tried to arrest in January 1642, a significant step in the outbreak of fighting in August. All five are commemorated at the State Opening of Parliament each year.

When the war began in August 1642, Hampden raised an infantry regiment for the Parliamentarian cause. His death on 18 June 1643 after being wounded in the Battle of Chalgrove Field was considered a significant loss, largely because Hampden acted as a bridge between the different Parliamentarian factions.

His early death meant Hampden avoided the ideological splits that led to the execution of Charles I in January 1649, and establishment of the Commonwealth of England. Combined with a reputation for honest, principled, and patriotic opposition to arbitrary rule, in 1841 his statue was erected in the rebuilt Palace of Westminster, representing the Parliamentarian cause.[a] Prior to the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams were among those who referenced him to justify their cause.[1]


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  1. ^ Jansson 2009, pp. 11–12.