In assessing the character of Disbrowe and the importance of his contribution to history, we can only rely on the scanty records of the times. The cavaliers undoubtedly detested him because he represented everything they disliked about Puritanism. In the National Dictionary of Biography we are told,: "His rustic origin and manners are constantly ridiculed in the Rump songs and other effusions of cavalier hate. He figures in Hudibras, and Butler has also devoted some lines to him in The Parable of the Lion and The Fox. He appears as, 'the grym gyant Disbrowe', in John Jan Lamberts (1661) to which is prefixed a woodcut representing Disbrowe and Lambert, the former with a hugh club in his right hand, leading the meek knight, Richard Cromwell, under the arms."

To his friends, Disbrowe was, the man of action; "blunt and honest", one who believed that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. As a commander of cavalry his ability and courage were acknowledged, even by his enemies [2]. G.M. Young, the historian, has written of his ability as an administrator and described him as: "A Cromwell on a lesser scale. [3]"

There were many occasions when he demonstrated that he was a man of principle. In at least three of them he found himself in opposition to Cromwell at considerable risk to his career. The first was when he refused to participate in the trial of Charles I. He was a staunch republican and in favour of deposing the King, but could not sanction putting him on trial. After the King was condemned to death, he refused to sign the death warrant, even though threatened by Cromwell. The third was his opposition to Cromwell's acceptance to the throne. In the latter instance, his influence was decisive, and the course of history was altered.

He was a Puritan who led his men in prayer and hymn singing before battle; but like so many of his kind he lacked the perception to see that England could not be forced into the straight jacket of the humourless faith. It seems certain that he was brusque and short, when dealing with people, and thus made enemies unnecessarily. In his final days of power he used very rough tactics in order to achieve dominance of his nephew Richard Cromwell the Lord Protector, and thus perpetuate the rule of the Major Generals. In so doing he, and those associated with him, destroyed the Commonwealth itself. That its days were already numbered can not be doubted, but it was their misfortune, though unintentionally, to deal it the final blow.

There exist only tantalizing fragments of information concerning John Disbrowe's private life and family affairs. We know that for the first few years after his marriage to Jane Cromwell in 1636, he continued to live as a gentleman farmer in the old Rectory at Eitisley in Cambridgeshire [4]. We can assume that children were born to the couple at frequent intervals as, according to the National Dictionary of Biography, there were seven sons and one daughter of this marriage.

There is a record of the baptism of John the first born son at the church of St. John the Baptist at Huntington, on April 27th, 1637. How long he may have lived is not known. The Dictionary further states that four sons, Nathaniel, Valentine, Benjamin and Samuel, survived their father. There is no record of the others who presumably died young. He had one daughter Jane, and it is possible there may have been another, although we cannot be sure.

It is recorded that [5]: "Nathaniel, the second but eldest surviving son, was placed by Cromwell under Lockhart's care at Paris, to qualify for foreign embassies. In November 1658, he returned to England. He received a Lieutenancy in Lockhart's regiment on August 26th, 1659. He subsequently attained the rank of Captain, and on the return of Charles II, retired to Holland. He appears to have been employed by Arlington to act as spy on De Witt and the English exiles in that country, but being detected, was committed to the Tower in February 1666, where he remained until September of the following year. He married Anne, one of the ten daughters of Sir John Corbett, Bart. of Stoke, SS Shropshire."

Of Valentine, we read [6]: "He was of Bocking; and had John and Valentine, and four daughters."

Of Samuel, we are told only that his wife was Katherine and they had two sons, - Samuel and John; and two daughters, Anne and Katherine.

The oldest son, Samuel [7], was of Isleworth in Middlesex; he was twice married. His first wife's name was Rescott and they had one child, Sarah, who died unmarried. His second wife was Louisa, daughter or granddaughter of Dr. John Taylor, Secretary to James I when he was Duke of York. It was through Louisa that the Manor of Walton in Derbyshire was inherited; it had formerly belonged to the Taylor family. Samuel and Louisa had children: John who died unmarried; and George of Isleworth and Walton-on-Trent.

George Disbrowe married Margaret Vaughan of Trederwyn Hall, Montgomery County. They had three children: Edward, who inherited the Walton estate; John who died in France; and Louisa who died young.

Benjamin Disbrowe, the youngest son, resided in the county of Essex where about 1683-84 he acquired the Manor of Tremnals in Downham [8]. He became sheriff of Essex in 1689 and died on February 21st, 1708 or 1709; he was buried at Downham.

He was married three times. His first [9] wife was Elizabeth Armstead of Thorelby (Torelby) in Lincolnshire. Of this marriage there was but one son, Cromwell Disbrowe. He then married Sarah Norden [10], the widow of Cornelius Vandenanker; there were no children of this marriage. His third wife was Mary Morden who was the youngest sister of his second wife Sarah; by her he had Mary, Sarah, two Elizabeths, and Jane.

As to Jane, the daughter of Major General Disbrowe, there is some confusion. According to the account in the Dictionary of National Biography, she married John Burton of Yarmouth and died in 1729. However, in Noble's Memoirs we are told that: "a daughter married William Lockhart, one of Cromwell's Lords who distinguished himself by his negotiations with France."

Cromwell Disbrowe, the Major General's grandson inherited the Manor of Tremnals in Essex from his father, Benjamin. He married Cornelia Vandenanker [13] who was the daughter of his father's second wife by her previous hushand. Their children were Platt, Charles, Benjamin, John, Nehemiah, another John, Cromwell, Samuel, Cornelia and Mary.

At the height of his career Disbrowe enjoyed, according to the standards of the times, a large income from his various offices and commands. Morant states that he had [13]: "As one of the Council £lOOO a year; as General-At-Sea £1095; as Colonel of Horse £474/10; as Major General of the West £666/13/4; in all £3236/3/4 per annum." He was able to provide well for his family and when he died possessed [not] only the manor at Eitisley, but other estates in Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Essex.

In his Memoirs [14], Noble describes the coat-of-arms of the Disbrowe family as follows: "Argent a seaffe between three bears heads, muzzled, erased, sable."

Jane Cromwell, his first wife, died after a long illness in 1657 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. At the time of the restoration her body was, by royal order, removed from the Abbey [15]. Her final resting place is not known. She was fifty one years old at the time of her death.

Disbrowe married again in April 1658. His second wife was Anne, daughter of Sir Richard Evard, Bart. of Mutch Waltham in Essex. There were no children of this marriage.

Major General Disbrowe outlived most of his former friends and associates of the great days of the Commonwealth. He died in Hackey in 1680 at, for those times at least, the ripe old age of seventy-two. He is reputed to have been buried at Chelmsford in Essex.

Notes:

1. - Ashley (2), p 154.
2. - Phillips, p 343.
3. - Firth (I), quotation from G. M. Young in his introduction to Firth's book "Oliver Cromwell and the Rule of the Puritans."
4. - D.N.B., quoting Egerton M.S. 2519, f I.
5. - Thurloe, Vol. VI, p 221; Noble, Vol. II.
6. - Thurloe, Vol. VII, p 823
7. - Chancellor, Vol. I, p 178
8. - Morant, Vol. II, p 209
9. - Morant, Vol. II, p 209
10. - Morant, Vol. II, p 209
11. - Noble, Vol. II, p 252
12. - Noble, Vol. II, p 252
13. - Morant, Vol. II, p 207
14. - Noble, Vol. II, p 365
15. - D.N.B. quoting from Nicholas Collectanea, Vol. VIII p 153.

Appendix: The Disbrowe Family After 1800