Herbert Morley

Who was Herbert Morley?

Herbert Morley was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1640 and 1667. He fought for the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War. Later he was appointed Lieutenant of the Tower of London.

Morley was the son of Robert Morley of Glynde Place, Sussex and his wife Susanna Hodgson, daughter and heiress of Thomas Hodgson, of Framfield. He was at school at Lewes and was admitted at Emmanuel College, Cambridge on 9 May 1632. He was admitted at the Inner Temple in November 1634.

He served as a Justice of the Peace for Sussex from 1641 to 1660.

Morley was elected Member of Parliament for Lewes just before the dissolution of the Short Parliament. In November 1640, he was re- elected MP for Lewes in the Long Parliament. In the civil war he became a colonel in the Parliamentary Army and was chief agent for raising troops, and sequestrating estates, in Sussex. He was nominated one of the King's judges, but refused to act. He was a member of the Council of State between 1650 and 1653. In 1654 he was returned as MP for Sussex and for Rye in the First Protectorate Parliament. In 1656 he was elected as MP for Sussex in the Second Protectorate Parliament. In 1659 he was elected MP for Sussex and for Lewes in the Third Protectorate Parliament. He was member of the Council of State and an Admiralty Commissioner in 1659