William Packer

Who is William Packer?

William Packer was a Major-General during the English Civil War.

Enlisted in the Eastern Association army; by 1644 he was a zealous Lieutenant in Oliver Cromwell's cavalry regiment. As a religious radical, Packer clashed with Major-General Lawrence Crawford, who had him arrested for disobedience. Cromwell intervened to have him released, leading to the bitter dispute between Cromwell and Crawford. On the formation of the New Model Army in 1645, Packer became a captain in Fairfax's regiment of Horse. He was with Fairfax at the siege of Colchester in 1648, then served as a Major in Cromwell's regiment on the Scottish campaign of 1650.

During the early 1650s, he was associated with the London congregation of the Fifth Monarchist John Simpson. Packer was himself a noted lay preacher and received a licence to preach from the Council of State in 1653. He was appointed a "Trier" to vet candidates for the clergy in 1654. During the Rule of the Major-Generals, he deputised for Charles Fleetwood as military governor of Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire. Packer emerged as one of the most severe of the Major-Generals. He denounced the celebration of Christmas in 1656 and is said to have violently attacked a Royalist who appeared before him drunk. He argued against granting freedom of worship to the Quakers. Packer was elected to the Second Protectorate Parliament as MP for Woodstock, Oxfordshire, but he had grown discontented with Cromwell's policies. He argued with Cromwell over the instigation of the Upper House and was deprived of his commands in 1658.