John Hampden

John Hampden (c. June 1595 – 24 June 1643) was an English politician from Oxfordshire, who was killed fighting for Parliament in the First English Civil War. An ally of John Pym, and cousin of Oliver Cromwell, he was one of the Five Members whom Charles I of England tried to arrest in January 1642, a significant step in the outbreak of fighting in August. All five are commemorated at the State Opening of Parliament each year. When the war began in August 1642, Hampden raised an infantry regiment for Parliament. His death on 18 June 1643 after the Battle of Chalgrove Field was considered a significant loss, but meant he avoided the later ideological splits that led to the execution of Charles I in January 1649, and establishment of the Commonwealth of England. Combined with his reputation as an honest, principled, and patriotic opposer of arbitrary rule, this led to the erection of his statue in the rebuilt Palace of Westminster in 1841, representing the Parliamentarian cause. Prior to the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams were among those who referenced him to justify their cause.