John Rushworth

John Rushworth (c. 1612 – 12 May 1690) was an English lawyer, historian and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1657 and 1685. He compiled a series of works covering the English Civil Wars throughout the 17th century called Historical Collections and also known as the Rushworth Papers.

Rushworth was born at Acklington Park in Warkworth, Northumberland, the son of Lawrence Rushworth and his wife Margaret Cuthbert, daughter of the vicar of Carnaby in Yorkshire. His father was an extensive landowner and Justice of the Peace at Heath, Yorkshire although he was in prison for debt in 1629. Rushworth was a solicitor at Berwick on Tweed from 1638 and entered Lincoln's Inn in 1640. He also began work as clerk assistant at the House of Commons in 1640: assisting Henry Elsynge, Clerk of the House of Commons, he was the first recorded individual to hold the office.

Rushworth followed the lead of John Pym who, in a speech in the House of Commons on 17 April 1640, attacked the King and his government for problems within the country. After the outbreak of the Civil War, Rushworth as an "embedded journalist" followed the battles of Edge Hill (1642), Newbury (1643 and 1644), Marston Moor (1644) and Naseby (1645). In 1645 he became secretary to Thomas Fairfax, commander-in-chief of the New Model Army. When Charles I was captured, Rushworth began to record details of events leading up to, during and following the trial and execution of the King. He reported the Battle of Preston (1648) and the Battle of Worcester (1651).

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