Thomas Pride

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General Sir Thomas Pride (died 23 October 1658) was a parliamentarian commander in the English Civil War, best known as one of the regicides of King Charles I and as the instigator of Pride's Purge.

Roundhead Name given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War

Roundheads were supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1641–1652). Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I of England and his supporters, known as the Cavaliers or Royalists, who claimed rule by absolute monarchy and the principle of the 'divine right of kings'. The goal of the Roundhead party was to give the Parliament supreme control over executive administration of the country/kingdom.

English Civil War Civil war in England (1642–1651)


Prides Purge Event in second English Civil War

Pride's Purge was an event that took place in December 1648, during the Second English Civil War, when troops of the New Model Army under the command of Colonel Thomas Pride forcibly removed from the Long Parliament all those who were not supporters of the Grandees in the New Model Army and the Independents. Some have called it a coup d'état.



Pride is said to have been brought up by the parish of St Bride's, London but is thought to have been born in Somerset. [1] [2]

St Brides Church Church in City of London

St Bride's Church is a church in the City of London, England. The building's most recent incarnation was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1672 in Fleet Street in the City of London, though Wren's original building was largely gutted by fire during the London Blitz in 1940. Due to its location in Fleet Street, it has a long association with journalists and newspapers. The church is a distinctive sight on London's skyline and is clearly visible from a number of locations. Standing 226 feet (69m) high, it is the second tallest of all Wren's churches, with only St Paul's itself having a higher pinnacle. This is also the church that inspired Cassandra Clare’s London Institute in her Shadowhunter Chronicles novels.

London Capital of the United Kingdom


Somerset County of England


Early career

He started his adult life as a drayman and a brewer. At the beginning of the Civil War he served as a captain in the New Model Army under Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, and was eventually promoted to the rank of colonel. He distinguished himself at the Battle of Preston in 1648 and with his regiment took part in the military occupation of London in December 1648, which was the first step towards bringing King Charles I to trial.


A drayman was historically the driver of a dray, a low, flat-bed wagon without sides, pulled generally by horses or mules that were used for transport of all kinds of goods. Now the term is really only used for brewery delivery men, even though routine horse-drawn deliveries are almost entirely extinct. Some breweries do still maintain teams of horses and a dray, but these are used only for special occasions such as festivals or opening new premises. There are some breweries still delivering daily/weekly using horses, Hook Norton in Oxfordshire being one of them.

Brewing production of beer


New Model Army army (1645-1660) in the English Civil War


Trial of King Charles I

The next step was the expulsion of the Presbyterian and Royalist elements in the House of Commons, who were thought to be prepared to reach a settlement with Charles. This action was resolved by the army council and ordered by the lord general, Fairfax, and was carried out by Colonel Pride's regiment. Taking his stand at the entrance of the House of Commons with a written list in his hand, he caused the arrest or exclusion of the members, who were pointed out to him. After about a hundred members had been thus dealt with, the reduced House of Commons, now reduced to about eighty in number, proceeded to bring the king to trial. This marked the end of the Long Parliament and the beginning of the Rump Parliament.

Cavalier Royalist supporter during and following the English Civil War

Cavalier was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier Royalist supporters of King Charles I and his son Charles II of England during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration. It was later adopted by the Royalists themselves. Although it referred originally to political and social attitudes and behaviour, of which clothing was a very small part, it has subsequently become strongly identified with the fashionable clothing of the court at the time. Prince Rupert, commander of much of Charles I's cavalry, is often considered to be an archetypal Cavalier.

Long Parliament English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660


Rump Parliament political body in the time of the English Revolution


Pride was one of the trial judges and one of the regicides of King Charles I, having signed and sealed the king's death warrant. His coat of arms appears on his seal.

Subsequent career

He commanded an infantry brigade under Oliver Cromwell at the Battle of Dunbar (1650) and at the Battle of Worcester (1651). He purchased the estate of Nonsuch Palace in Surrey, and in 1655 was appointed Sheriff of Surrey.

Oliver Cromwell 17th-century English military and political leader


Battle of Dunbar (1650)

The Battle of Dunbar occurred on the 3rd September 1650, and is traditionally considered one of the major battles of the Third English Civil War, part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms as the competing claims of the new Commonwealth of England and of Charles II to the throne of England were at stake. The English Parliamentarian forces under Oliver Cromwell defeated a Scottish army commanded by David Leslie which was loyal to Charles. Charles had been proclaimed King of 'Great Britain', France and Ireland by the Parliament of Scotland on 5 February 1649, five days after the execution of his father Charles I. Despite the defeat at Dunbar, the Anglo-Scottish conflict continued through 1651. During that period, Charles arrived in Scotland and was crowned as King of Scots at Scone. The battlefield of Dunbar has been inventoried and protected by Historic Scotland under the Historic Environment (Amendment) Act 2011.

Battle of Worcester final battle of the English Civil War

The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 at Worcester, England, and was the final battle of the English Civil War. Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentarian New Model Army, 28,000 strong, defeated King Charles II's 16,000 Royalists, of whom the vast majority were Scottish.

Retirement and knighthood

When the Commonwealth of England was established he abandoned his involvement in politics, except in opposing the proposal to confer the kingly dignity on Cromwell. In 1656 he was knighted by Cromwell, then Lord Protector, and was appointed to the second house added to Parliament as a result of the Humble Petition and Advice.


He married Elizabeth Monk (born 1628), a daughter of Thomas Monk of Potheridge in Devon by his wife Mary Gould, a daughter of William Gould of Hayes. [3] Elizabeth's uncle was the royalist general George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle (1608-1670), KG, the key figure in effecting the Restoration of the Monarchy to King Charles II in 1660.


Pride died in 1658 at his home of Worcester Park House, having bought it and the "Great Park" of Nonsuch Palace, Surrey. [4] After the Restoration of 1660 his body was ordered dug up and suspended on the gallows at Tyburn along with those of Cromwell, Henry Ireton and John Bradshaw, though it is said that the sentence was not carried out, probably because his corpse was too far decayed. The Royalists thereupon attempted to hang his son, Joseph Pride, also an active member of the New Model Army, who barely escaped.



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  1. Encyclopædia Britannica
  2. Robert Hodkinson (2017), Cromwell's Buffoon: The Life and Career of the Regicide, Thomas Pride, London: Helion & Company
  4. The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, for the Year 1837