1655 in England explained

Events from the year 1655 in England.

Incumbents

• Lord Protector – Oliver Cromwell

Events

• 22 January – Oliver Cromwell dissolves the First Protectorate Parliament.^[1]
• 11–14 March – Penruddock uprising: a Royalist uprising beginning in Wiltshire is defeated by a skirmish in South Molton.^[1]
• 28 April – Admiral Robert Blake destroys the pirate fleet of the bey of Tunis.^[1]
• 10–27 May – Anglo-Spanish War: Invasion of Jamaica – Forces led by William Penn and Robert Venables capture the island of Jamaica from Spain.^[2]
• 9 August – the Rule of the Major-Generals, a period of direct military government, begins.^[1]
• 24 November – Anglican services prohibited by Cromwell.^[1]
• 4–18 December – Whitehall Conference convened by Cromwell to debate the Resettlement of the Jews in England.^[2]

Ongoing events

• Anglo-Spanish War 1654–1660

Publications

• John Wallis's Arithmetica Infinitorum, first work on differential calculus.^[3]

Births

• 11 January – Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk, politician and soldier (died 1701)
• 23 April (bapt.) – Andrew Allam, writer (died 1685)
• 25 April – John Lowther, 1st Viscount Lonsdale, politician (died 1700)
• 3 June – William Nicolson, bishop and antiquary (died 1727)
• 20 July – Ford Grey, 1st Earl of Tankerville, statesman (died 1701)
• 12 November – Francis Nicholson, military officer and colonial governor (died 1728)
• 28 December – Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis, First Lord of the British Admiralty (died 1698)
• Sir John Barker, 4th Baronet, politician (died 1696)

Deaths

• 31 January (bur.) – Anthony Stapley, Regicide (born 1590)
• February – George Brydges, 6th Baron Chandos, (born 1620)
• 18 March – Father Richard Smith, Bishop (born 1568)
• 16 May – John Penruddock, Cavalier (born 1619) (executed)
• after May – Elizabeth Alkin, Parliamentarian publisher, nurse and spy (born c. 1600)
• by 9 June – Thomas Mauleverer, Member of Parliament and Regicide (born 1599)
• 26 June – Edward Conway, 2nd Viscount Conway, (born 1594)
• 19 November – Stephen Marshall, clergyman (born 1594)

Notes and References

1. Book: Williams, Hywel. Cassell's Chronology of World History. registration. London. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 2005. 0-304-35730-8. 266.
2. Web site: 1655, British Civil Wars. 2007-09-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20070930031359/http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/timelines/1655.htm. 30 September 2007.
3. Book: Palmer, Alan. Palmer. Veronica. 1992. The Chronology of British History. Century Ltd. London. 185–186. 0-7126-5616-2.