22 August 1620 – the date Cromwell married Elizabeth Bourchier, at St Giles-without-Cripplegate, Fore Street, London.
Above: Portrait of Elizabeth Bourchier, Oliver Cromwell’s wife.
Cromwell’s Wife
1598 – the year Elizabeth Bourchier was born to Sir James Bourchier and Frances Crane (the precise date is unknown).
12 – the number of children born to Sir James and Frances; Elizabeth was the eldest of the 12.
£1500 – the value of Elizabeth’s dowry.
9 – the number of children born to Cromwell and Elizabeth.
Oliver Cromwell’s Children
Robert Cromwell – Born: 1621. Died: 1639.
Oliver Cromwell ii – Born: 1622. Died: 1644.
Bridget Cromwell – Born: 4 August 1624. Died: 1681.
Richard Cromwell – Born: 4 October 1626. Died: 12 July 1712.
Henry Cromwell – Born: 20 January 1628. Died: 23 March 1674.
Elizabeth Cromwell – Born: 2 July 1629. Died: August 1658.
James Cromwell – Born and died: 1632
Mary Cromwell – Born: February 1637. Died: 1713.
Frances Cromwell – Born: 1638. Died: 1720.
5 – the number of the children who survived Oliver and Elizabeth.
3 – the number of love letters written between Cromwell and Elizabeth that still exist (from September and December 1650, and May 1651).
Truly my life is but half a life in your absence. – Elizabeth, writing to Cromwell in December 1650
2 – the number of these letters written from Cromwell to Elizabeth.
1 – the number of these letters written from Elizabeth to Cromwell.
3 – the number of Cromwell’s brothers-in-laws who became Parliamentarian army officers.
£20 – the amount Cromwell sent as a gift to his sister Elizabeth in 1651.
18 November 1654 – the date Cromwell’s mother Elizabeth died.
37 – the number of years by which Cromwell’s widowed mother Elizabeth outlived her husband Robert.
55 – Oliver Cromwell’s age at the time his mother died.
90 – the age of Cromwell’s mother at the time of her death (born: 28 October 1565).
1658 – the year Elizabeth lost her home and pension, following the death of Oliver and the end of the Protectorate months later.
Did You Know?
In later life, under the Reformation, Elizabeth was mocked for being a common woman, “a hundred times fitter for a barn than a palace”.
7 – the number of years Elizabeth outlived Oliver.
November 1665 – Elizabeth dies whilst living at the home of her son-in-law John Claypole, Northborough Manor in Northamptonshire.
19 November 1665 – Elizabeth is buried in Northborough Church, Northhamptonshire.