KELSEY, Thomas (c.1616-?1687), of Shere, Surr., and Bishopsgate Street, London.

Kelsey’s family had been yeomen farmers in Shere, Surrey, since at least the mid-sixteenth century. In 1574 his grandfather Thomas Kelsey (d. 1595) was indicted for leading an armed mob in an attack upon the servants of Sir Edward Bray of Shere, although he was acquitted by the grand jury.33Surr. Hist. Cent. LM/971; PROB11/85/370. Our MP, apparently born about 1616 when the parish register is sparse, was probably 14 when he was apprenticed on 20 October 1630 to Henry Graunt (d. 1662) of Burchin Lane in the parish of St Peter Cornhill, London, a Hampshire-born haberdasher.34Shere par. reg.; Drapers’ Co. Apprentice Bk. In 1636 Graunt also took on his own eldest son, John Graunt, the future pioneer statistician and demographer, and friend of William Petty and John Aubrey.35‘John Graunt’, Oxford DNB. Kelsey was made free of the Drapers’ Company on 15 May 1639, and a few months later acquired an apprentice in the shape of his younger brother Francis Kelsey (b. 1621).36Shere par. reg.; Drapers’ Co. Apprentice Bk. According to Anthony Wood, who characteristically but not uniquely disparaged him as ‘a mean trader’, Kelsey married one of his former master’s daughters, but if so, this may not have happened immediately since the eldest was only 17; an Anne Kelsey, wife of Thomas, buried at Shere in December 1654, does not match records of Graunt’s daughters, but equally may not have been married to the future MP, who certainly had a wife in June 1655 and thereafter.37Wood, Life and Times, i. 433; Fasti Oxonienses, ii. 111; Shere par. reg.; St Botolph, Bishopsgate, par. reg.; CSP Dom. 1655, p. 491; 1671-2, p. 98; CCSP v. 197. Kelsey, recorded in 1641 as a haberdasher in St Clement’s Lane and a yeoman member of the Drapers’ Company, paid his quarterage to the company between 1640 and 1657 from an address in Bishopsgate Street.38T. Dale, Members of the City Companies in 1641 (1935), 101; Drapers’ Co. Quarterage Bk.

A hostile press after the Restoration dubbed Kelsey the ‘brave button-maker’ and asserted that, ‘of a mean trade in Birchin Lane, and not thriving at that, [he] betook himself to the wars’. 39The Gang or the Nine Worthies (1660, 669.f.22.71); The Mystery of the Good Old Cause (1660), 50 (E.1923.2). It seems likely that the Kelsey brothers and John Graunt (who was a member of the trained bands) were early recruits to parliamentarian service, and he went on to serve as an officer in the garrisons of Norwich and Boston.40‘John Graunt’, Oxford DNB; Wanklyn, New Model Army i. 48. It must have been with several years’ experience that Major Thomas Kelsey of the New Model regiment of foot of Colonel Edward Montagu II* emerged, as a trusted delegate of Oliver Cromwell*, to sign the articles for the surrender of Langford House on 17 October 1645.41LJ vii. 279; HMC 6th Rep. 81; S. Poyntz, Severall Letters (1645), 4-5 (E.307.10). In December 1645 he was transferred as lieutenant-colonel to the regiment of Richard Ingoldsby*, and he served as deputy governor of Oxford after its surrender in June 1646. Kelsey participated in the parliamentarian visitation of the university, and was awarded an honorary MA on 14 April 1648, while that summer he was instrumental in foiling a royalist plot to capture the city.42Wanklyn, New Model Army i. 58, 64; Wood, Fasti, 556, 560, 597, 602, 604, 640; CSP Dom. 1648-9, pp. 193, 221; LJ x. 407; HMC Popham, 19. However, his relations with the Independent grandees may have been strained, and in September he was accused of disobeying the orders of the Derby House Committee, perhaps in relation to raising money for the Irish campaign.43CSP Dom. 1648-9, pp. 245, 268, 270-2.

In November Kelsey played an active role in the general council of officers, serving on the committees appointed on 16 November to consider the Remonstrance presented to Parliament four days later, and on 28 November to prepare the officers’ ‘Agreement of the People’.44Clarke Pprs. ii. 54, 61; Worcester Coll. Clarke MS CXIV, f. 111. On 5 January 1649 he attended the open meeting of the army general council at Whitehall, where he requested the prophetess Elizabeth Poole to demonstrate that she was a messenger from God.45Clarke Pprs. ii. 167. Although not among officers nominated to the high court of justice, Kelsey apparently endorsed the king’s trial and he proved an enthusiastic supporter of the new regime. By June 1649 he was styled governor of Oxford, in November he provided information to the council of state about fraudulent purchases of papists’ lands, and in December he was appointed to oversee the taking of the Engagement in Oxford.46CSP Dom. 1649-50, pp. 175, 380, 431, 561; 1650, pp. 128, 187, 400, 411, 421, 519, 547, 575, 595, 597.

In May 1651 Kelsey was transferred as colonel of a regiment of dragoons to Dover, where he was immediately commissioned as lieutenant of Dover Castle and made governor of the garrison.47CSP Dom. 1651, pp. 178, 188, 189, 201, 209, 253. In this post he was zealous in providing news for the council, corresponding with the navy commissioners, examining suspects and prisoners, and overseeing the town’s defences, harbour, and naval affairs, particularly during the Anglo-Dutch war.48CSP Dom. 1651-2, pp. 87, 91, 117, 139, 183, 196, 219, 250, 284, 388; 1652-3, pp. 22, 172-3, Add. 29747, ff. 18, 20-23v; Add. 22546, f. 105. Between May 1652 and March 1656 he frequently presided over the admiralty court of the Cinque Ports, although on some occasions this task was left to the deputy lieutenants of Dover Castle, who included his younger brother Francis, his onetime apprentice.49Eg. 2119, ff. 2, 2v, 6v, 42v, 53v, 59v, 71, 72, 72v, 73, 76, 85, 90; Drapers’ Co. Apprentice Bk.

After the dissolution of the Rump in April 1653, Kelsey was seconded to a number of council of state committees, regarding the treasury, ports, Whitehall lodgings, and the fleet, although he continued to fulfil his duties relating to Dover while in Westminster.50CSP Dom. 1652-3, pp. 319, 328, 356, 370, 388, 415; 1653-4, pp. 76, 85, 87, 313; Add. 22546, ff. 118-19; Eg. 2096, f. 175v. He was responsible for reviewing the fleet in August, and was made one of the treasurers to the excise commissioners in May.51CJ vii. 307b; Clarke Pprs. iii. 5. In July he was nominated as a navy commissioner, a position which he retained for the duration of the protectorate.52CJ vii. 285a, 362a; CSP Dom. 1653-4, p. 19; Add. 18986, f. 136; Stowe 185, f. 114.

As governor of Dover, Kelsey sought to influence the elections for the 1654 Parliament, and wrote to Rye to recommend Thomas St Nicholas*.53HMC 13th Rep. IV, 223. Kelsey’s prominence in Kent, and his proximity to the Cromwellian court, ensured that he was himself returned to Parliament, albeit for Sandwich rather than Dover, having defeated the challenge of one Peter Peke.54Cent. Kent. Stud. Sa/AC8, f. 113. Although he was named to committees discussing Irish affairs and elections, the probate office, and the relief of creditors and poor prisoners, and was a teller against a motion to retain the parliamentary representation of Queenborough, he was most prominent in issues of religion.55CJ vii. 371b, 373b, 378b, 401a, 411b. Despite having apparently attended the congregation of the fifth monarchist preacher, John Simpson, Kelsey supported the maintenance of a national church, and in August 1654 had been appointed a commissioner for scandalous ministers in Kent.56The Fifth Monarchy, or Kingdom of Christ (1659), 24 (E.993.31); A. and O. His zeal for orthodoxy was evident in his appointment to committees deliberating on the ejection of scandalous ministers, the enumeration of heresies and Quakers, and investigating the printing of books by the Socinian John Biddle.57CJ vii. 370a, 399b, 400a, 410a. In January 1655 Kelsey delivered a written complaint about the minister presented to Witney by William Lenthall*, one Bridock, whom he accused of being a former royalist and chaplain to the earl of Derby.58CSP Dom. 1655, pp. 6-7.

In March 1655 Kelsey and John Disbrowe* were reported to be composing disorders in the navy, and over the summer Kelsey was considered for military service in Ireland; Charles Fleetwood*, commending his ‘valour and discreet courage’, nominated him for the post of governor of Cork, or of Londonderry and Carrickfergus.59HMC 5th Rep., 148; TSP iii. 559, 567. However, Kelsey’s continued service at Dover led to his appointment in August 1655 as major-general of Kent and Surrey.60TSP iii. 300, 701; CSP Dom. 1655, p. 275; Clarke Pprs. iii. 50; TSP iv. 88, 117. As the most powerful Cromwellian agent in the area, Kelsey demonstrated a mixture of puritan zeal and political radicalism. Adopting a harsh policy towards delinquents, in November 1655 he proposed decimation of those with property worth more than £50 a year, took steps to arrest the royalist grandee the earl of Southampton, and was involved in uncovering the Gerard Plot. He told Secretary of state John Thurloe* that ‘honest’ supporters of the Cromwellian regime were discontented to see royalists holding office. Meanwhile, he banned Whitsun celebrations and was responsible for the arrest and conviction of the Ranter Richard Coppin.61TSP iv. 224, 234, 293, 486, 544; W. Rosewell, The Serpents Subtilty Discovered (1656), 14-15 (E.882.9).

Kelsey’s radicalism was also apparent during elections for the 1656 Parliament. This time he recommended navy commissioner Edward Hopkins* to the corporation at Rye.62HMC 13th Rep. IV, 228. He complained to Thurloe about the attempt by the ‘rabble’ to secure the return at Dover of the notorious merchant George Cony, while he expatiated at length to Oliver Cromwell* of the ‘sad spirit against whatever good you have endeavoured to do’ among Presbyterians and royalists at Maidstone, the bitterness against swordsmen, decimators and courtiers, and the possibility of tension spilling over into bloodshed. Kelsey recommended the ruthless exclusion from Parliament of men like Cony, and advocated imposing an oath of recognition upon Members to keep out ‘rigid fellows’ and to prevent meddling with the Instrument of Government. He spoke in providential terms of the dangers faced by England

without resolution of spirit in your highness and council to maintain the interest of God’s people (which is to be preferred before a thousand Parliaments), against all opposition whatsoever, we shall return again to our Egyptian taskmasters.

It was ‘better to perish in the work of the Lord than now we have put our hands to the plough to look back’, although ‘the murmurings and discontents of God’s people, together with our unsuitable walkings under those precious enjoyments we have from the Lord may provoke him to leave us to be overcome by our enemies’.63TSP v. 308, 384; CSP Dom. 1656-7, p. 87; SP18/129, f. 282. Returned both at Dover, where he was made a freeman on 30 July 1656, and at Guildford, on 4 October Kelsey opted to represent the port.64Eg. 2096, f. 188-9; CJ vii. 434a.

As a major-general, Kelsey played a predictably active role in the Commons, and was named to a clutch of important committees in the opening days of the assembly, including the committees of privileges, for Scottish affairs, for the security of the protector, and for the means of addressing Cromwell.65CJ vii. 424a, 427a, 429a. In the ensuing months he was also named to committees concerned with economic and ‘industrial’ matters, the closely related issue of the state’s finances, and the means of raising revenue and supplies, not least for the navy.66CJ vii. 429b, 435b, 445b, 454b, 459a, 575a, 576a. He was appointed to the committees to consider the maintenance of Northamptonshire ministers and to frame the declaration of the day of thanksgiving in January 1657, while his own views are evident from his recommendations of Independent ministers like John Owen, Philip Nye and George Griffith to preach before the House.67CJ vii. 423b, 447b, 469a, 484b; Burton’s Diary, ii. 321. Named to the committee to consider the case of the allegedly blasphemous Quaker James Naylor, Kelsey adopted a less harsh stance than many other MPs. Not only did he oppose the death penalty, but he also supported granting Naylor a hearing, religious counsel, and the opportunity to recant. Stressing the need to temper judgement with mercy, he also questioned parliamentary jurisdiction: ‘you have not law for what you do’.68CJ vii. 448a; Burton’s Diary, i. 119, 122-3, 163-4, 183. In March 1657 Kelsey was a teller against the imposition of fines on those who refused to engage in catechising, and with his close ally, Major-general Disbrowe (whose disputed election he had supported in October 1656), subsequently declared his opposition to that bill (9 June).69CJ vii. 442a, 504b, Burton’s Diary, ii. 202. He also seems to have been eager to protect dissenting ministers who were orthodox on matters of faith, but differed over discipline and worship.70CJ vii. 507b.

However, this fairly tolerant attitude towards religion and the church was maintained alongside a hardline policy towards royalists and delinquents. Kelsey was nominated to committees relating to sequestered parsonages and papists’ estates, (not for the first time) to prevent the election of delinquents to corporations, and to formulate instructions for imposing an oath upon Members at the start of the second session in January 1658.71CJ vii. 434a, 444a, 461a, 578a. During debate on the Humble Petition and Advice, Kelsey was named to the committee for securing the peace against royalists, while he was also involved in discussing the cases of specific known or suspected delinquents, like Thomas Burton* and the Kentishman Edward Scott.72CJ vii. 439b, 457b, 473a, 484a, 488b, 508b, 545a. Kelsey displayed intransigence towards those who sought indemnity from the government, or assistance in disputes regarding Irish Adventurers’ lands, and he possibly opposed some of the parliamentary grants of money and land, particularly in Ireland, made to army officers or to grandees like Roger Boyle, Lord Broghill*.73CJ vii. 452a, 463b, 472b, 477a, 546a, 573b.

In this context it is unsurprising that Kelsey emerged as a leading critic of the political conservatism which came to dominate the protectoral court and Parliament, his disillusionment probably being exacerbated by the overthrow of the major-generals in January 1657. That spring he was involved in committees preparing the Humble Petition and Advice, which proposed offering the crown to Cromwell, but he tried to persuade Cromwell to reject it, and later made clear his opposition to reform of the constitution in this form.74CJ vii. 507b, 508b, 514a, 524a, 540b, 557a. In June he expressed opposition to accommodating old enemies – ‘I had rather have 20 honest men excluded than admit all knaves’ – and disillusionment probably explains the slight impression he made on proceedings during the brief second session of Parliament in early 1658, and perhaps also his attendance at a meeting of army officers in March.75Burton’s Diary, ii. 250; CJ vii. 578a, 581a; Clarke Pprs. iii. 143. None the less, that January he obtained a grant to administer compensation for the daughter and widow of his brother Captain Francis Kelsey, who had drowned on service to Ireland.76TSP vi. 735; PROB11/272/270.

Kelsey was re-elected to the Parliament which assembled in January 1659, and soon emerged as a prominent opponent of the protectorate. Once again he recruited Independent preachers, and although he declared his opposition to Quakers, he did so on the grounds that they were disturbers of the peace, arguing against imprisoning those who refused to take oaths.77CJ vii. 594b; Burton’s Diary, iii. 12; iv. 442. Evidently concerned that royalists might secure seats, Kelsey was again involved preparing oaths for MPs and in investigating elections.78CJ vii. 593a, 594b. He was outspoken in calling for the imprisonment of Members like Robert Danvers* or Villiers, and active in investigating allegations against Henry Neville*.79Burton’s Diary, iii. 248-9, 297. In March Kelsey spoke against hearing petitions from cavaliers, and in early April he sought an enquiry into the electoral influence of the Howard family.80Burton’s Diary, iv. 266-8, 369.

Crucially, Kelsey took a stand against the ‘Other House’.81Burton’s Diary iii. 366-9. During a debate on 22 February he doubted the chances of keeping the new second chamber in check, having ‘found by woeful experience that power is willing to enlarge itself, but never to be restrained’, and was particularly hostile to the admission of the old peers, since this would ‘lay a foundation for Charles Stuart’s coming over’, and would imply the illegality of the abolition of the House of Lords, the execution of the king and all legislation after January 1649. This would proclaim in effect that ‘all hath been a mere usurpation of the House of Commons’, and would not only create confusion over land sales, but also invalidate the ‘Humble Petition and Advice’ and the participation of Scottish and Irish Members. While he had never promoted or voted for the Petition, ‘yet is it a law and in being’. Kelsey also expressed Harringtonian ideas against readmitting the old peers, indicating that, since they now controlled so little of the country’s land, they no longer merited a coordinate power with the Commons.82Burton’s Diary iii. 406-8. He was thus almost certainly a hostile member of the committee to consider the manner of ‘transacting’ with the Other House (6 Apr.).83CJ vii. 627a. Nevertheless, while he was an opponent of Cromwellian plans, and of giving Richard Cromwell* power over the militia, he approved the grant to the protector of power to dispatch the fleet, arguing that it was necessary to prevent the growing influence of the Dutch, who would ‘give laws to all the world, if they once get you under’.84Burton’s Diary, iii. 440, 456-7. On 18 April, Kelsey was appointed to a committee to ensure the security of the protector, in the light of the perceived threat in London, but he almost certainly approved of the dissolution of Parliament days later, and perhaps also of the collapse of the protectorate.85CJ vii. 642a.

Kelsey soon emerged as a prominent member of the Wallingford House party, signing both their letter to George Monck* (3 May), and the officers’ petition of 12 May, and he was also involved in discussions with republicans like Edmund Ludlowe II* and Sir Henry Vane II*.86Clarke Pprs. iv. 6; Mercurius Politicus no. 567 (12-19 May 1659), 437 (E.762.13); Ludlow, Memoirs, ii. 61, 63, 74; The Humble Petition and Address (1659), 13 (E.983.7). On 6 May he was among the party of officers who presented to the Speaker the Declaration inviting Rumpers to return to Westminster.87A Declaration of the Officers (1659), 6 (E.980.20). The restored Rump confirmed him as a navy commissioner (30 May), and as governor of Dover (18 July), and having been commissioned to raise a regiment of 1,000 horse in Kent (5 Aug.), Kelsey resumed his active service in the county, but it was against a backdrop of hostility from some which allegedly led to accusations surfacing in Parliament.88CJ vii. 669b, 670b, 723a, 724a, 749a; CSP Dom. 1659-60, p. 167 CCSP iv. 312, 326; Articles of High Crimes and Misdemeanours against Lt. Col. Tho. Kelsey (1659, E.993.8); The Declaration of the Officers Opened (1659), 21-2 (E.1010.16). However, having helped the general council of officers to organise the petitioning campaign in the army in early October, he was one of the officers whose commission was revoked on 12 October, prompting the army’s interruption of Parliament.89TSP vii. 755; Add. 4165, f. 33; CJ vii. 796a; CCSP iv. 410; Clarke Pprs. iv. 60; HMC Var. ii. 360. Kelsey remained active on the general council in the weeks which followed, but when the Commons returned in December he was deprived of his position at Dover, where he was replaced by John Dixwell*, who was ordered to quell Kelsey’s party.90A Letter Sent by Col. Cobbet (1659), 3; TSP vii. 766; Add. 4165, f. 34; Clarke Pprs. iv. 68; CCSP iv. 508. Kelsey refused to obey the Commons order passed on 9 January for him to depart from London, and his arrest was ordered five days later.91CJ vii. 806b, 812b; CSP Dom. 1659-60, p. 309. Although incarcerated at Lambeth, he was paroled sometime before mid-March, upon bail provided by Sir Arthur Hesilrige*.92CCSP iv. 615, 618.

It was probably soon after his release that Kelsey fled with Disbrowe to the Low Countries, where after the Restoration they were kept under close observation as suspected plotters against Charles II. In December 1661 it was rumoured that the pair were arming a ship bound for the West Indies, and in March 1662 that they were trying to assist another regicide, John Okey*.93CCSP v. 172, 197, 202. In 1663 the two men were reported to have been plotting at Rotterdam and Arnhem, and in April 1666 the government ordered their return to England to be tried, possibly for treason, and for plotting to capture Dover.94CSP Dom. 1663-4, pp. 88, 257, 266, 279, 292, 328, 356, 459; 1665-6, pp. 22, 342, 410. Neither obeyed this order, and in May 1668 both were still in the Low Countries, ‘in a very brave condition’.95CSP Dom. 1667-8, p. 385. In November 1671, however, Kelsey was granted a pass to return to England, and after returning to Holland to fetch his wife in February 1672, received a pardon through the influence of Colonel Thomas Blood.96CSP Dom. 1671, p. 583; 1671-2, pp. 98, 116; HMC 6th Rep. 368b; HMC 7th Rep. 464b. Thereafter, Kelsey lived in London in relative obscurity, although in February 1676 he was reported to have attended a meeting in Leadenhall Street with former major-generals Disbrowe and James Berry*, and to have been praying and preaching against the government.97CSP Dom. 1675-6, p. 571. The date of his death is unknown, although it probably took place shortly before letters of administration were granted to his sister Mary, on 6 August 1687.98PROB6/63, f. 88v. It is not clear what became of his son and namesake, who had taken up freedom of the Drapers’ Company in March 1677, but no other member of the family sat in Parliament.99Drapers’ Co. recs.