Born at Altenborough, Notts; graduated at Cambridge 1629, and studied law; on outbreak of Civil War he joined the Parliamentarian party, and marrying Cromwell's daughter acquired great influence; took a leading part in the prosecution of the king, was one of his judges, and signed the warrant for his execution; kept by Cromwell in Ireland in 1650, he proved a stern deputy, and died of the plague before Limerick; he was a man of great vigour of character, whose zeal for justice made him almost cruel (1611-1651).