# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Morley, Herbert

​MORLEY, HERBERT (1616–1667), colonel, baptised on 2 April 1616, was eldest son of Robert Morley (d. 1632) of Glynde, Sussex, by Susan (1595-1667), daughter and heiress of Thomas Hodgson of Framfield in the same county (Berry, County Genealogies, 'Sussex,' p. 175; Sussex Archæological Collections, xxiv. 102). He was educated at Lewes free school along with d|John|Evelyn|(1620-1706)}} [q. v.] In November 1634 he became a member of the Inner Temple. On 3 Nov. 1640 he was elected M.P. for Lewes, and subsequently became a colonel in the parliamentary army. When the members subscribed on 9 April 1642 for the speedy reduction of the Irish rebels, Morley contributed 600l. (Rushworth, Historical Collections, pt. iii. vol. i. p. 565; cf. Commons' Journals, ii. 647). In November 1642, having been chosen by parliament with three other deputy-lieutenants, he undertook to put Sussex in a position of defence, provide men for that county, and gunpowder for the defence of Lewes, to pay for which contributions of money and plate were raised in the town. When Chichester was besieged by Waller's forces he held a principal command, and for his success received the thanks of the house on 16 Jan. 1643 (ib. ii. 929). The command of two troops of horse was given him on 15 Feb. He was appointed the chief agent for raising troops, levying money, and sequestrating estates in Sussex, and became notorious for his rough usage of the clergy. Having been charged on 16 March 1643 'to take care that no horse do pass beyond seas without special warrant,' he arrested William, son of Lord Strafford, at Rye on his passage to France, but parliament on 23 March ordered his discharge, with a letter of thanks to Morley 'for his care' (ib. iii. 15).
In April he seized a vessel for conveying abroad the 'delinquent' John Tufton, second earl of Thanet (ib. iii. 67). In May he was active in parliament in promoting severe measures of retaliation on royalist prisoners in consequence of some parliamentarians having been ill-used at Oxford; and in July he was prominent in urging the lords to proceed more diligently with the impeachment of the queen and the making a new great seal. In December 1643, although he was unable to prevent the surprisal of Arundel by Lord Hopton [see Hopton, Ralph, first Baron Hopton], he beat back that general in his advance on Lewes (Whitelocke, Memorials, ed. 1732, p. 78), and soon afterwards assisted at the recapture of Arundel, over which he was placed in authority in conjunction with Sir William Springett (Tierney, Arundel, i. 62-3). He was again thanked by parliament on 21 June 1644 for his services at the siege of Basing House (Whitelock, pp. 78, 103). Although nominated one of the king's judges, he refused to act. On 20 Feb. 1650 he became a member of the council of state, and served on various committees (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1650, p. 5). He vigorously opposed Cromwell as long as he could do so with safety. On a motion in the House of Commons for fixing a day for its dissolution, a critical division ensued, 14 Nov. 1651, and while Cromwell and St. John as tellers for the ayes reckoned forty-nine votes, Morley and Dennis Bond told off' forty-seven in opposition. On 19 Nov., however, he was re-elected to the council of state, and again in November 1652 (Commons' Journals, vii. 220). After the expulsion of the Long parliament in April 1653, Morley withdrew into private life, and though elected both for Rye and Sussex in 1654, he declined to attend parliament. He was as active as ever in having the coast watched and vessels searched for suspicious persons and papers (Thurloe, State Papers, iii. 369), but refused to be appointed a commissioner for Sussex in November 1655 (ib. iv. 161). He gave, however, valuable advice to Thurloe on the best methods of raising seamen and for securing the coasts of Kent and Sussex from the French frigates (ib. iv. 549, 574). He was again returned for Sussex in 1656, but rather than submit to the indignity of being ranked among the 'excluded members,' he preferred to 'live quietly' at Glynde, and refused to aid Sir Arthur Hesilrige [q. v.] in promoting the so-called 'Declaration of the Excluded Members,' though, greatly to his annoyance, his name was affixed to it (ib. v. 456, 490-1).
In 1659 Morley was returned both for Sussex and for Lewes, but on taking his seat on 11 Feb. he elected to sit for Sussex (Burton, Diary, iii. 202). For some time he bore a prominent part in the debates. He was anxious to impose restraints upon the revived House of Lords, was jealous of the army, and was active in excluding 'delinquents' from parliament (ib. iii. 241, 337, iv. 59). On 24 Feb. he accused the council of having made a 'dishonourable peace and a worse war' with Holland (ib. iii. 478, 588). On 28 March he obtained leave to go into the ​ country for ten days, and remained there until the dissolution of parliament on 22 April.
Morley was again elected one of the council of state on 14 May 1659 (Commons' Journals, vii. 654), and on 9 July, being then an admiralty commissioner, was added to the committee for officers (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1659-60, p. 15). On 25 July he was made colonel of a regiment of foot (Commons' Journals, vii. 707, 708, 731). In conjunction with Hesilrige and five others he was appointed a commissioner for the government of the army on 12 Oct., in order to guard against the danger of military violence from Lambert (ib. vii. 796). On the very next day Lambert marched at the head of his troops through London, and came to the Palace Yard. There Morley met him pistol in hand, and swore if he stirred a foot further he would shoot him. To this Lambert answered, 'Colonel Morley, I will go another way; though, if I please, I could pass this.' He then marched into the Old Palace Yard, and ultimately succeeded in driving away all but his own friends from the House of Commons, his force being superior to Morley's owing to the city's inactivity (Carte, Original Letters, 1739, ii. 246). With Walton, Hesilrige, and others of the old council of state, Morley wrote a joint letter to Monck, promising to stand by him in the attempt to restore the parliament (Baker, Chronicle, ed. 1670, p. 695). Morley also promoted what he called the 'Humble Representation of Colonel Morley and some other late Officers of the Army to General Fleetwood,' dated 1 Nov. 1659 (Thurloe, vii. 771-4). In company with Hesilrige and Walton, Morley then repaired to Portsmouth, gained over the governor (3 Dec. 1659), and proceeded to collect troops against Lambert. Their power so quickly increased that they soon marched into London at the head of a body of cavalry, and there, on 26 Dec., restored the parliament. Morley received the thanks of the house on 29 Dec. (Commons' Journals, vii. 799), became a member of the new council of state two days later (ib. vii. 800), and was appointed lieutenant of the Tower on 7 Jan. 1659-60 (ib. vii. 805). On 11 Feb. he was named one of the five commissioners for the government of the army, and on 23 Feb. one of the council of state (ib. vii. 841, 849). Evelyn, knowing that Morley had influence enough in Sussex to secure a good reception for the king in case he might land there, urged him to declare for the restoration of the monarchy, and thereby gain the honours which would otherwise fall to Monck. He refused, however, to believe that Monck intended to do the king any service. Even on Monck's arrival in London (3 Feb. 1659-60) Morley failed to penetrate his intentions, and broke off correspondence with Evelyn, though he had been bargaining for the king's pardon of himself and his relations (Evelyn, Diary, ed. 1850-2, i. 334-6, 422-5). The republicans were alarmed, and Ludlow, apparently assured of Morley's support in maintaining the Commonweath, proposed that two thousand soldiers should be marched to the Tower to join with Morley's regiment there; 'he having sent to me,' says Ludlow, 'to let me know that the Tower should be at my command whensoever I pleased to desire it' (Memoirs, ed. 1751, ii. 360). Halting thus between two opinions, Morley missed playing the triumphant part, which Monck undertook.
After the Restoration Morley purchased his pardon by payment of 1,000l. (Evelyn, i. 336). He appears to have been elected M.P. for Rye, but probably never took his seat (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1667, p. 543). He died at Glynde on 29 Sept. 1667. By license dated 26 Oct. 1648 he married Mary (1626-1656), daughter of Sir John Trevor, kt. (Chester, London Marriage Licenses, ed. Foster, col. 942), by whom he had three sons, Robert (b. 1650), Herbert (b. 1652; died before his father), and William (b. 1653), and a daughter Anne (will registered in P. C. C. 141, Carr).
In Flatman's 'Don Juan Lamberto' (pt. i. ch. ix.) Morley is described under the sobriquet of the 'Baron of Sussex,' in allusion to the story of his scene with Lambert. Whatever opinions Morley adopted in church and state he maintained conscientiously, without the suspicion of a meanness or self-interest. His reports and orders as admiralty commissioner, 1659-60, are in the British Museum (Addit. MS. 22546, ff. 225, 229), and the corporation of Rye possesses many of his letters (Hist. MSS. Comm. 13th Rep. App. p. iv).
[Sussex Archæological Collections; Lower's Worthies of Sussex, p. 336; Noble's Lives of the English Regicides; Burton's Diary, iv. 40, 104, 192; Evelyn's Diary, 1850-2, i. xxvii-viii. 278, 308; Clarendon's Rebellion (Macray); Ludlow's Memoirs, 1751, ii. 191, 340, 357; Coxe's Cat. Codicum MSS. Bibl. Bodl. pars v. fasc. ii. p. 827.]
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