until April 1660. When the First English Civil War began in August 1642, he joined the Parliamentarian Committee for Northamptonshire, and was most active as "a sequester and committee man". In late 1644, he supported Oliver Cromwell's criticisms of Essex and Manchester, the former for his defeat at Lostwithiel, the latter for failing to exploit victory at Marston Moor and bungling the Second Battle of Newbury. John Pickering, who fought at Marston Moor and Newbury, was one of the witnesses on whom Cromwell relied in the attack on Manchester that led to his removal under the Self-denying Ordinance. Parliament's victory in 1646 was followed by two years of arguments over the peace settlement between moderate Presbyterians and the leadership of the New Model Army. Although Pickering largely avoided involvement, as an Independent he was generally viewed as an Army supporter, and thus kept his seat in the Rump Parliament established after Pride's Purge in December 1648. He was appointed one of the judges in the January 1649 trial of Charles I, but only attended two sessions and did not sign the death warrant. He remained MP for Northamptonshire through the Interregnum 1648–1660 and was appointed Lord Chamberlain to Oliver Cromwell in 1657. His public career ended in 1660. With the help of his brother-in-law Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich, Pickering obtained a pardon from King Charles II. The original of the pardon delivered by Charles II on vellum in Latin is in the Pitts Theology Library of Emory University, MS no 109. Pickering was also cousin to the poet, John Dryden, who grew up in Titchmarsh; monuments to Dryden and his parents were erected at Titchmarsh by his daughter Elizabeth, whose 1668 marriage was attended by her distant relative, Samuel Pepys. Sir Gilbert and his descendants are commemorated by tombs and memorials in Saint Mary the Virgin, Titchmarsh. Notes References Sources 1668 deaths Pickering, 1st Baronet 1611 births Members of Gray's Inn Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Gilbert English Presbyterians English Anabaptists 17th-century Presbyterians 17th-century Anabaptists English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1648–1653