Francis Lascelles (1612–1667), also spelt Lassels, was an English politician, soldier and businessman who fought for Parliament in the 1639–1652 Wars of the Three Kingdoms and was a Member of Parliament between 1645 and 1660.
One of the MPs who retained their seat after Pride's Purge in December 1648, he was named as a member of the Commission appointed for the trial of Charles I in 1649. However, he did not sign the death warrant and largely escaped punishment after the 1660 Restoration, although he was fined and barred from holding public office.
In December 1662, he was accused of involvement in the so-called 'Lascelles Plot,' a conspiracy centred on Northallerton, which proved to be a fabrication by government informers. He died at home in November 1667.
Contents
Biography
The Lascelles were a well established Yorkshire family, and part of a network of mercantile interests in London, Ireland, New England and Barbados. There were various branches in Yorkshire, including Northallerton, Durham, Whitby, York, Harewood House and Terrington. Francis Lascelles was born in August 1612 at Stank Hall, near Northallerton, eldest son of William Lascelles (died before 1624) and Elizabeth Wadeson (died 1647). He had three brothers, Robert (1617, died before 1640), Peregrine (1619–1658) and Thomas (1624–1697).
He married Frances St Quentin (1613–1658) in 1626; they had 16 children, only two of whom outlived their parents, Elizabeth (1640–1694) and his youngest son, Daniel (1655–1734). He died at home in November 1667 and was buried in the local church of St Lawrence.
Career
Like many of his friends and relations, Francis supported Parliament during the 1639–1652 Wars of the Three Kingdoms; with his brothers Thomas and Peregrine, he is named in the Ordinances of Parliament as one of those responsible for raising money and men in Yorkshire, and signed the 1643 Solemn League and Covenant.
At the beginning of the First English Civil War in 1642, many on both sides were related to their opponents and thus reluctant to initiate hostilities. In October, Thomas Fairfax, later commander of Parliamentarian forces in the North, signed a pact of neutrality with a Royalist delegation led by his cousin Sir John Belasyse. This was denounced in writing by other supporters of Parliament, including Francis, who replaced Belasyse as Member of Parliament for Thirsk in 1645.
When the Second English Civil War broke out in 1648, Francis was a colonel and played a significant role in the campaign that ended with the defeat of the Royalist army at Preston in August. He then joined the force besieging Scarborough Castle, a key supply port in the north of England that changed hands seven times between 1642 and 1648. The Parliamentarian garrison defected after not being paid and they also received substantial Royalist reinforcements, including 300 Belgian mercenaries. When the castle surrendered in late December, a number of these were 'mistaken for Irish' and executed.
Between 1642 and 1648, England suffered an estimated 185,000 deaths from combat or disease, over 3.0% of the population; this compares with 2.6% in 1914–1918, while death rates in Scotland and Ireland were considerably higher. After 1648, Parliamentarian leaders like Cromwell and many members of the New Model Army believed Charles could not be trusted and only his death would end the conflict. Lascelles was nominated to the High Court of Justice set up for the trial, as one of the relatively conservative group of property-owning senior military officers known as 'Grandees'.
Of the 135 members nominated, only 68 attended, one being Lascelles; however, he was absent when sentence was passed and did not sign the death warrant, which later proved extremely important. Charles was executed on 30 January 1649 and Francis then participated in the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. The March 1642 Adventurers' Act raised loans for an army to suppress the Irish Rebellion of 1641, which were repaid by confiscating lands held by the Irish rebels; enforcing it was one of the primary objectives of Cromwell's invasion.