The Rule of the Major-Generals from August 1655 – January 1657, was a period of direct military government during Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate.

England was divided into 10 regions each governed by a Major-General whom answered to the Lord Protector.

The Major-Generals and their regions

There were ten regional associations covering England and Wales administered by major-generals. Ireland under Major-General Henry Cromwell, and Scotland under Major-General George Monck were in administrations already agreed upon and were not part of the scheme.

Name	Period	Region	Deputies	Notes
James Berry	Appointed in 1655	Herefordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire and Wales	John Nicholas in Monmouthshire; Rowland Dawkins in Carmarthenshire, Cardiganshire, Glamorgan, Pembrokeshire.
William Boteler (Butler)		Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Northamptonshire and Rutland		Zealous and uncompromising in his hostility to his religious and political enemies, Boteler was a severe persecutor of Quakers in Northamptonshire; in 1656 he advocated that James Nayler should be stoned to death for blasphemy. Boteler was also aggressive in his persecution of Royalists in his area, unlawfully imprisoning the Earl of Northampton for failing to pay his taxes.
John Desborough		Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire
Charles Fleetwood	Appointed in 1655	Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Isle of Ely, Norfolk, Oxfordshire and Suffolk	George Fleetwood (a distant kinsman) in Buckinghamshire; Hezekiah Haynes in Essex, Cambridgeshire, Isle of Ely, Norfolk, Suffolk; William Packer as military governor of Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire	Owing to his other responsibilities on the Council of State, day to day matters in his region were overseen by Fleetwood's three deputies.
William Goffe	October 1655	Berkshire, Hampshire and Sussex
Thomas Kelsey		Surrey and Kent
John Lambert		Cumberland, County Durham, Northumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire	Charles Howard in Cumberland, Northumberland, Westmorland; Robert Lilburne in County Durham, Yorkshire	Owing to his other responsibilities on the Council of State, day to day matters in his region were overseen by Lambert's two deputies.
Philip Skippon		Middlesex; including the cities of London and Westminster	Sir John Barkstead	Skippon was by now elderly, and on the Council of State, so most of the day to day matters in his region were largely undertaken by Barkstead,
Edward Whalley		Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire,
Charles Worsley; Tobias Bridge	1655–June 1656; June 1656–January 1657	Cheshire, Lancashire and Staffordshire

Notes

1. Little, Paterick; Putting the Protector back into the Protectorate BBC history magazine Vol 8, no 1, January 2007. Page 15
2. Plant. Rule of the Major-Generals.
3. Royle, p. 698
4. Plant. Rule of the Major-Generals.
5. Henry Cromwell was nominally under the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Charles Fleetwood, but Fleetwood's departure for England in September 1655 left him for all practical purposes the ruler of Ireland
6. Royal, pp. 698,699

References

• Plant, David; Rule of the Major-Generals.
• Royal, Trevor; Civil War: The Wars of the Three Kingdoms 1638-1660; Pub Abacus 2006; (first published 2004); ISBN 978-0-349-11564-1