FLEETWOOD, Charles, lord-deputy of Ireland under the Commonwealth, and son-in-law of Cromwell, was boni most probably in 1620. Entering the ranks of the parliamentary forces, he rose in 1644 to the rank of colonel of horse, and in 1645 was appointed governor of Bristol. At the battle of Dunbar in 1650 he was lieutenant-general of the horse; and at the battle of Worcester in 1651, the division commanded by him contributed chiefly to the victory of the parliamentary army. After the death of his first wife he was married to Bridget, eldest daughter of Cromwell and widow of Ireton; and in the same year he was appointed commander-in-chief of the forces in Ireland, In 1654 he became lord-deputy, but manifested such weakness and irresolution in dealing with the different political parties of Ireland that Cromwell in 1655 found it necessary to recall him. He was honoured shortly afterwards, however, by being nominated one of the fourteen major-generals to whom the internal administration of the Commonwealth was entrusted. On the death of the Lord Protector he made an attempt, by means of his influence with the troops, to supplant Richard Cromwell; but he wanted sufficient ability and energy to carry out his purpose, and in the midst of his intrigues the nation recalled the exiled Stuarts. Fleetwood’s prominent position marked him out as an object of vengeance to the restored king, and it was only with very great difficulty that he escaped with his life. Not long after the Restoration he died in wretchedness and obscurity at Stoke Newington, whither he had retired. That defect in his character which helped to ruin both him and the Protectorate did not escape the shrewd observation of Cromwell, who, in a letter written shortly after Fleet wood’s marriage to Bridget Cromwell, gives him the exhortation, “Take heed of your natural inclination to compliance.”

FLEETWOOD, William (1656-1723), a learned English bishop, was descended of an ancient family in Lancashire, and was born in the Tower of London, January 21, 1656. He received his education at Eton and at King’s College, Cambridge. About the time of the Revolution he entered into holy orders, and was shortly afterwards made rector of St Austin’s, London, and lecturer of St Dunstan’s in the West. He became canon of Windsor in 1702, and in 1706 he was nominated to the see of St Asaph, from which he was translated in 1714 to that of Ely. He died at Tottenham, Middlesex, on the 4th August 1723. Bishop Fleetwood was regarded as the best preacher of his time, and his character stood deservedly high in general estimation. In liberal and enlightened piety he was considerably in advance of his age.

His principal writings are— Essay on Miracles, 1701; Chronicum Preciosum, 1707; and Free Sermons, 1712, containing sermons on the death of Queen Mary, the duke of Gloucester, and King William. A collected edition of his works was published in 1737.