A Very Gallant Gentleman

Colonel Francis Thornhagh figures prominently in Lucy Hutchinson’s Memoirs of the Life of Colonel John Hutchinson, an essential source for information about the English Civil War in the East Midlands. Yet with no biography until now, little is known about this influential parliamentarian officer outside of Hutchinson’s writings.

By the time of his death at the age of 31 at the Battle of Preston in 1648, Francis Thornhagh had achieved considerable military and political success. Appointed colonel and commander of the Nottinghamshire at the age of 26, with Henry Ireton as his major, he saw considerable military action, including fight against Prince Rupert and Charles Gerard. This book explores both his military activities alongside other leading parliamentarians such as Cromwell, Poyntz and Hutchinson and his support of the army as an Independent MP over the years 1646-48.

This new piece of research examines thoroughly Thornhagh’s important contribution to the events of the period 1642-1648.