Bitchenor in the Cromwellian Army. Completed.

[vivijune]

Wonder if anyone knows if there is a list in existence for ordinary soldiers in the Cromwellian Army. The Bitchenor family or Bitchener came from Kempston and the Cromwellian Army was headquartered just down the road in Bedford around 1643 for 2 years under General Fairfax.

My understanding is that Cromwell dealt with the problem of Levelers and agitators in the ranks of soldiers by getting them out of England and sending them to Ireland.  This achieved the effect of wiping out the growing Leveler demands for equal representation, the right to a decent wage and protection under the law. Their removal happened in the Commonwealth Period, prior to the return of the Stuart kings (Charles the Second) in the UK.

I've found a Bitchener, Betchenor, Bitchinell (all the same family) in census records for County Cork in the mid 1800's. (Ballyclogh, County Cork.)

If there's a list I'd like to know where to find it. If anyone has information on this subject I'd appreciate their input.

 

[vivijune]

Please tag as completed. Something to research on a rainy day. Thanks to people on the Ireland board who got back to me to confirm that variations on Bitchenor (all the usual variations) are clustered around Cork so that's the place to make enquiries. Also thanks for suggesting Irish Geneology as a source.

[bedfordshire boy]

Please tag as completed.

Go to your original message in this thread, click Modify, and add COMPLETED to the title line

[vivijune]

Now I can close this out. Just an FYI in case someone in the future is looking into the Irish Bitchenors (various similar name variations during the 1800's just like in Bedfordshire.) Looking in County Cork where they are clustered it seems they arrived in Cork somewhere between 1800 and 1810. So much for a Cromwellian connection! One dead end doesn't spoil all the progress made tracing the Bitchenors of Cranfield.