Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick
1587–1658
Lord High Admiral of the Parliament’s fleet; senior New England patron.
Biography
Of Emmanuel Cambridge, then a long Puritan political career as the senior maritime patron of New England colonisation. He held the Bermuda and Somers Islands Company patents and was a leading backer of the Providence Island Company, the Massachusetts Bay Company, and the early Rhode Island settlements; Roger Williams's 1644 charter for Providence Plantations was secured through his influence. As Lord High Admiral of the Parliament's fleet (1642) he held the navy for Parliament at the war's outbreak, depriving Charles of seaborne supply. A senior lay assessor at the Assembly. He opposed the regicide and was deprived of the Admiralty after 1649. Died in 1658.
Lay Assessor — House of Lords
Parliament seated lay assessors from both Houses to sit with the divines and represent its interest. Ten peers were named from the House of Lords as lay assessors; like the Commons assessors they had voice in the Assembly but were not voting members, and they attended as their other duties allowed.