First ever account of a Civil War officer well-known to Thomas Fairfax, Oliver Cromwell John Hutchinson, Henry Ireton and Sydnam Poyntz, whose rising military career was cut short by his death at the Battle of Preston. Thornhagh’s early life, successful military and political carer as an MP are examined fully in this biography. 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. AUTHOR: Stuart Jennings is an Early Modern Historian and a Methodist Minister. He completed an MA in history at Nottingham University and a PhD at Nottingham Trent University. He has published a number of peer reviewed academic papers, three chapters in books of academic essays and two books as sole author. His book ‘These Uncertaine tymes’ won the Alan Ball Local History prize in 2010. He lectures in history at the Centre for Lifelong Learning, University of Warwick and serves as part of s team of academic advisors to the National Civil War Centre at Newark upon Trent. 34 b/w illustrations, 3 b/w maps
