On the 11th of February following, the House,[57] among other business—
“Ordered, That it be referred to the Council of State, to dispose of Worcester House, and the yards and gardens thereunto belonging, for the best carrying on of the public service of the Commonwealth.”
The Marchioness of Worcester, being deprived of other sources of property, petitioned the Parliament in respect to the only likely means of obtaining pecuniary consideration. A copy of her petition, being a printed folio fly-leaf, probably as then in use for members of the House, preserved in the Library of the British Museum, has upon it the MS. date “October 1654,” but it is more probable that it was not presented to Parliament before the end of 1656 or early in 1657. It is as follows:—
“To the Parliament of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
“The humble Petition of Margare[t Somerset] Countess of Worcester.
“Sheweth,
“That your Petitioner having been married to Edward, now Earl of Worcester, in the year 1639, with a considerable portion, to the value of twenty thousand pounds, and not having received out of the whole estate but four hundred pounds these nine neares [years], in lieu of jointure, fifths, or thirds. Notwithstanding her claim and four years’ attendance: and finding now only Worcester House unsold, and in pursuit to discover some other little thing.
“Your Petitioner humbly prayeth your Honours, to grant her the benefit of the said House, and such other things as may be discovered.
“And your Petitioner shall ever pray, &c.”
Every circumstance connected with this petition acquires interest from the peculiar position of the times, and of all parties interested. The Marquis of Worcester had rendered himself highly obnoxious to the dominant party, he was beyond their power, a recusant and a papist, and here was his noble Lady petitioning the Cromwellian Parliament in respect to her rights, a papist demanding her fifths at the hands of her husband’s bitterest enemies. We need, therefore, offer no apology for tracing rather more particularly than might otherwise seem requisite, the course pursued in this simple affair.