ABSTRACT
In Gloucestershire the gentry had agreed beforehand that Sir Robert Cooke and Sir Paul Tracy would be the most appropriate choice as knights of the shire and in the event they were both elected. In Herefordshire the gentry agreed among themselves, as they had done before, that Sir Robert Harley and Sir Walter Pye, a courtier who lacked the religious commitment of his associate, were the most suitable candidates for the county seats. Both Cooke and Nathaniel Stephens were zealous Puritans and a number of godly divines were actively involved in the campaign, among them Henry Stubbes, Sir Robert’s domestic chaplain, and William Mew, a former London lecturer who had been presented by Stephens to the rectory of Eastington. Among the Puritan divines there were high hopes of a thorough reformation of religion and MPs who were known to be sympathetic to their cause were bombarded with advice and encouragement.
