Hardress Waller

Sir Hardress Waller (c. 1604 – 1666; also spelled Hardresse), cousin of Sir William Waller, was an English parliamentarian of note who was condemned to death for his part in the regicide of Charles I. His life was spared owing to the efforts of his friends and instead condemned to life imprisonment.

Born in Groombridge, Kent, and descendant of Sir Richard Waller of Groombridge Place. As an MP, Waller was knighted by Charles I in 1629. That same year he married Elizabeth Dowdall, the daughter of an English landowner in Ireland and acquired a large estate in Castletown, Kilcornan, County Limerick which the family held until the 19th Century Irish Land Acts. He gained military experience in serving against the rebels in Ireland, where in 1644 he was made Governor of Cork.

He was with the King at Oxford in 1643 to present a petition before returning to Ireland to continue his Military service under Lord Inchiquin. He then made the decision to take up arms against the King and returned to England to take up a command in the Parliament Army.

From 1645 until the end of the Civil War he was in England commanding a regiment in the New Model Army. He was Colonel Pride's chief assistant when the latter purged the House of Commons in 1648. However history most remembers Waller as one of the king's judges and one of those who signed the death warrant.

Sir Hardress Waller was back in Ireland in 1650 as a major-general in Cromwell's invasion force. When Cromwell returned to England in May 1650, Waller stayed in Ireland and assisted Henry Ireton and Edmund Ludlow in completing the subjugation. He captured Carlow Castle in July 1650 and played a major role in the siege of Limerick in 1651, after which he was appointed governor of Limerick. Waller was involved in the settlement of Ireland and remained loyal to Cromwell throughout the 1650s. Together with his son-in-law Sir Henry Ingoldsby he was MP for counties Clare, Limerick and Kerry in the Protectorate Parliaments of 1654, 1656 and 1659.

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