Whitelocke, Bulstrode

Whitelocke, Bulstrode (bool'strōd hwit'lok) [key], 1605–75, English statesman. A lawyer and member of the Long Parliament, he was head of the committee that managed the prosecution of Thomas Wentworth, earl of Strafford. Always an advocate of moderation, he took part in attempts to make terms with King Charles I in 1643, 1644, and 1645, and refused to participate in the trial of the king. He was commissioner of the great seal (1648, 1649, 1654–55, 1659) and ambassador to Sweden (1653–54). He was elected (1659) president of the council of state after the collapse of the Protectorate. At the Restoration (1660) he was pardoned, and thereafter he lived quietly. The most important of his voluminous writings are his Memorials of the English Affairs (1682), a source work for the period 1625–60, and Journal of the Swedish Embassy (1772).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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