Thomas Hatcher

Who was Thomas Hatcher?

Thomas Hatcher was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1624 and 1659. He fought on the Parliamentary side during the English Civil War.

Hatcher was the son of Sir John Hatcher of Careby, Lincolnshire and his wife Anne Crewes, daughter of James Crewes of Fotheringay, Northamptonshire. He was a student of Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1603 and of Lincoln's Inn in 1607. He was elected Member of Parliament for Lincoln in 1624. In 1628 he was elected MP for Grantham and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without Parliament for eleven years.

In April 1640, Hatcher was elected MP for Stamford in the Short Parliament and was re-elected MP for Stamford for the Long Parliament in November 1640. He was one of the commissioners to Scotland in 1643, and was present at the Battle of Marston Moor and siege of York in 1644. He eventually reached the rank of Colonel. He was one of the members excluded from Parliament in Pride's Purge as being considered too moderate.

In 1654 Hatcher was elected MP for Lincolnshire in the First Protectorate Parliament.