, was eldest son of Francis fourth earl of Bedford, by Catharine,
, was eldest son of Francis fourth earl of Bedford, by Catharine, sole daughter and heir of Giles Bridges,
lord Chandois, and was born in 1614. He was educated
in Magdalen college, Oxford, and was made knight of the
bath at the coronation of king Charles I. He was a member of the Long-parliament, which met at Westminster,
November 3, 1640; and May 9 following, upon the death
of his father, succeeded him in his honours and estate. In
July 1642, having avowed his sentiments against the measures pursued by the court, he was appointed by the parliament general of the horse, in the army raised in their
defence against the king; and the marquis of Hertford
being sent by his majesty into the West to levy forces, iti
order to relieve Portsmouth, the earl of Bedford inid the
command of seven thousand foot, and eight full troops of
horse, to prevent his success in those parts; and marched
with such expedition, that he forced the marquis out of
Somersetshire, where his power and interest were believed
unquestionable, and thus destroyed all hopes of forming an
army for the king in the West. He afterwards joined the
eari of Essex, and in the battle of Edgehill commanded
the reserve of horse, which saved the whole army, when
the horse of both wings had been defeated, and, after doing
great execution on the king’s infantry, brought off their
own foot; so that it became doubtful who had the victory,
this reserve being the only body of forces that stood their
ground in good order. In 1643, he, and the earls of Holland and Clare, conferred with the earl of Essex, who became dissatisfied with the war; and they had so much influence in the House of Lords, that, on the 5th of August
the same year, that House desired a conference with the
Commons, and declared to them their resolution of senclHig propositions for peace to the king, and hoped they
would join with him. But by the artin'ce of Pennington,
lord mayor of London, who procured a petition from the
common-council of that city against the peace, such tumults were raised to terrify these lords, that they left the
town, the Commons refusing to agree to their propositions.
The earls of Bedford and Holland resolved therefore to go
to Oxford; but their purpose being discovered or suspected, they with some difficulty got into the king’s garrison at
Wallingford, from whence the governor sent an account of
their arrival to the council at Oxford. The king was then
at the siege of Gloucester, and the council divided in their
opinions, in what manner to receive them; but his majesty upon his return determined on a middle way, by allowing them to come to Oxford, and every person to treat
them there as they thought fit, while himself would regard
them according to their future behaviour. Accordingly the
two earls came, and, together with the earl of Clare, entered into the king’s service in Gloucestershire, waited
upon his majesty throughout his march, charged in the
royal regiment of horse at the battle of Newbury with great
bravery, and in all respects behaved themselves well. Upon
the king’s return to Oxford, he spoke to them on all occasions very graciously; but they were not treated in the
same manner by others of the court, so that the earl of
Holland going away first, the earls of Bedford and Clare
followed, and came to the earl of Essex at St. Alban’s on
Christmas-day, 1643. Soon after this, by order of parliament, the earl of Bedford was taken into custody by the
black rod, and his estate sequestered, as was likewise the
earl of Clare’s, tili the parliament, pleased with their successes against % the king in 1644, ordered their sequestrations to be taken off, and on the 17th of April the year following, the earl of Bedford, with the earls of Leicester and
Ciare, and the lords Paget, Rich, and Convvay, who had
left Oxford, and joined the parliament at London, took
the covenant before the commissioners of the great-seal.
He did not, however, interpose in any public affairs, till
the House of Peers met in 1660, when the earl of Manchester, their speaker, was ordered by them to write to
him to take his place among them; which he accordingly
did, being assured of their design to restore the king and
on the 27th of April that year, he was appointed one of the
managers of the conference with the House of Commons,
“to consider of some ways and means to make up the
breaches and distractions of the kingdom
” and on the 5th
of May was one of the committee of peers “for viewing
and considering, what ordinances had been made since the
House of Lords were voted useless, which now passed as
acts of parliament, and to draw up and prepare an act of
parliament to be presented to the House to repeal what
they should think fit.
”