Thomas Kelsey

Thomas Kelsey(died c. 1680) rose from obscurity as a "Londontradesman "to become an important figure in the government ofOliver Cromwell.

Kelsey enlisted in theNew Model Armyand fought on the side of Parliament during theEnglish Civil War,displaying a zeal that led him to become a major-general in 1645. He became a lieutenant-colonel in Colonel Ingoldsby's regiment from 1646. After the war he was elected as Deputy-Governor ofOxford,and in 1651 he was further appointed a lieutenant ofDover Castle.

As a member of the 'fifth Monarchist congregation' in London, led byJohn Simpson,during the early 1650s, he supported Oliver Cromwell in the establishment of the Protectorate and was elected MP forSandwichin Kent for theFirst Protectorate Parliament,and was appointed the Major-General forSurreyandKentduring theRule of the Major-Generals.

Thomas Kelsey was returned for Dover during the Second Protectorate Parliament, when he supportedJohn Desborough's move to establish the Major-Generals as a permanent form of government.

After the collapse of the Protectorate in 1659, Thomas Kelsey supportedJohn Lambert's attempts to resist theRestoration.Major-General Kelsey was deprived of his commands under the recalledRump Parliament(Jan 1660), and was ordered to leave London. With the return of KingCharles IIin May 1660, Kelsey felt safer removing himself to theNetherlands,but with others including John Desborough was instructed to return to England in 1666.

Thereafter little more is known of his life, except that it has been suggested he turned his skills to becoming a brewer, and that he died around 1680.

References

• "Kelsey, Thomas".Dictionary of National Biography.London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.