ABSTRACT
No matter their influence, men like Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton or Lambert had to work through others such as Hezekiah Haynes. Alongside his work in the east, Haynes was part of some of the central political meetings and decisions of the 1650s: the establishment of the Major-Generals, the calling of the second Protectorate Parliament, the Nayler debates, the offer of the crown to Cromwell and his subsequent decision to decline it and accept a new constitution. A study of Haynes shows how war and revolution developed the kin networks of those bound together by the experience. In returning, defeated and under suspicion to their localities, it was natural that whatever the dangers of being denounced for plotting, ex-comrades like Haynes and John Blackwell would continue to communicate and work together. In Haynes’ case, he clearly also had a continuing bond with others from the Interregnum he had worked closely with, like Thurloe.
