Sir Arthur Haselrig
c. 1601–1661
One of the Five Members; raised the "Lobsters" regiment; republican leader; died in the Tower.
Biography
Of Magdalen Oxford and Gray's Inn, then MP for Leicester and one of the Five Members Charles I tried to arrest on 4 January 1642 — the proximate cause of the king's flight from London. He was instrumental in the impeachments of Strafford (1640) and Laud (1644). Haselrig raised the regiment of 'Lobsters' (heavy cuirassiers in lobster-tail helmets) for Parliament and fought at Roundway Down. After the regicide he served on the Council of State (1649-1653) and as Governor of Newcastle. He broke with Cromwell over the Protectorate, leading the parliamentary opposition that toppled Richard Cromwell in 1659 — only to be outmanoeuvred by Monck the following year. At the Restoration he was imprisoned in the Tower and died there in January 1661, in conditions Charles II reportedly thought too lenient and Pepys thought too cruel.
Lay Assessor — House of Commons
Parliament seated lay assessors alongside the divines to represent its interest and keep it informed of the Assembly's progress. The ordinance of 1643 named thirty members of the House of Commons as assessors; they could take part in debate but were not among the voting divines, and their attendance was often occasional as the war and parliamentary business pressed on them.