Fleetwood was a strong and unswerving follower of Cromwell’s policy. He supported his assumption of the protectorate and his dismissal of the parliaments. In December 1654 he became a member of the council, and after his return to England in 1655 was appointed one of the major-generals. He approved of the “Petition and Advice,” only objecting to the conferring of the title of king on Cromwell, became a member of the new House of Lords; and supported ardently Cromwell’s foreign policy in Europe, based on religious divisions, and his defence of the Protestants persecuted abroad. He was therefore, on Cromwell’s death, naturally regarded as a likely successor, and it is said that Cromwell had in fact so nominated him. He, however, gave his support to Richard’s assumption of office, but allowed subsequently, if he did not instigate, petitions from the army demanding its independence, and finally compelled Richard by force to dissolve parliament. His project of re-establishing Richard in close dependence upon the army met with failure, and he was obliged to recall the Long Parliament on the 6th of May 1659. He was appointed immediately a member of the committee of safety and of the council of state, and one of the seven commissioners for the army, while on the 9th of June he was nominated commander-in-chief. In reality, however, his power was undermined and was attacked by parliament, which on the 11th of October declared his commission void. The next day he assisted Lambert in his expulsion of the parliament and was reappointed commander-in-chief. On Monk’s approach from the North, he stayed in London and maintained order. While hesitating with which party to ally his forces, and while on the point of making terms with the king, the army on the 24th of December restored the Rump, when he was deprived of his command and ordered to appear before parliament to answer for his conduct. The Restoration therefore took place without him. He was included among the twenty liable to penalties other than capital, and was finally incapacitated from holding any office of trust. His public career then closed, though he survived till the 4th of October 1692.
[1] He had lost his first wife, Frances Smith; and later he had a third wife, Mary, daughter of Sir John Coke and widow of Sir Edward Hartopp.
FLEETWOOD, WILLIAM (1656-1723), English divine, was descended of an ancient Lancashire family, and was born in the Tower of London on New Year’s Day 1656. He received his education at Eton and at King’s College, Cambridge. About the time of the Revolution he took orders, and was shortly afterwards made rector of St Austin’s, London, and lecturer of St Dunstan’s in the West. He became a canon of Windsor in 1702, and in 1708 he was nominated to the see of St Asaph, from which he was translated in 1714 to that of Ely. He died at Tottenham, Middlesex, on the 4th of August 1723. Fleetwood was regarded as the best preacher of his time. He was accurate in learning, and effective in delivery, and his character stood deservedly high in general estimation. In episcopal administration he far excelled most of his contemporaries. He was a zealous Hanoverian, and a favourite with Queen Anne in spite of his Whiggism. His opposition to the doctrine of non-resistance brought him into conflict with the tory ministry of 1712 and with Swift, but he never entered into personal controversy.
His principal writings are—-An Essay on Miracles (1701); Chronicum preciosum (an account of the English coinage, 1707); and Free Sermons (1712), containing discourses on the death of Queen Mary, the duke of Gloucester and King William. The preface to this last was condemned to public burning by parliament, but, as No. 384 of The Spectator, circulated more widely than ever. A collected edition of his works, with a biographical preface, was published in 1737.
FLEETWOOD, a seaport and watering-place in the Blackpool parliamentary division of Lancashire, England, at the mouth of the Wyre, 230 m. N.W. by N. from London, the terminus of a joint branch of the London & North-Western and Lancashire & Yorkshire railways. Pop. (1891) 9274; (1901) 12,082. It dates its rise from 1836, and takes its name from Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, by whom it was laid out. The seaward views, especially northward over Morecambe Bay, are fine, but the neighbouring country is flat and of little interest. The two railways jointly are the harbour authority. The dock is provided with railways and machinery for facilitating traffic, including a large grain elevator. The shipping traffic is chiefly in the coasting and Irish trade. Passenger steamers serve Belfast and Londonderry regularly, and the Isle of Man and other ports during the season. The fisheries are important, and there are salt-works in the neighbourhood. There is a pleasant promenade, with other appointments of a watering-place. There are also barracks with a military hospital and a rifle range. Rossall school, to the S.W., is one of the principal public schools in the north of England. Rossall Hall was the seat of Sir Peter Fleetwood, but was converted to the uses of the school on its foundation in 1844. The school is primarily divided into classical and modern sides, with a special department for preparation for army, navy or professional examinations. A number of entrance scholarships and leaving scholarships tenable at the universities are offered annually. The number of boys is about 350.
FLEGEL, EDWARD ROBERT (1855-1886), German traveller in West Africa, was born on the 1st of October 1855 at Wilna, Russia. After receiving a commercial education he obtained in 1875 a position in Lagos, West Africa. In 1879 he ascended the Benue river some 125 m. above the farthest point hitherto reached. His careful survey of the channel secured him a commission from the German African Society to explore the whole Benue district. In 1880 he went up the Niger to Gomba, and then visited Sokoto, where he obtained a safe-conduct from the sultan for his intended expedition to Adamawa. This expedition was undertaken in 1882, and on the 18th of August in that year Flegel discovered the source of the Benue at Ngaundere. In 1883-1884 he made another journey up the Benue, crossing for the second time the Benue-Congo watershed. After a short absence in Europe Flegel returned to Africa in April 1885 with a commission from the German African Company and the Colonial Society to open up the Niger-Benue district to German trade. This expedition had the support of Prince Bismarck, who endeavoured, unsuccessfully, to obtain for Germany this region, already secured as a British sphere of influence by the National African Company (the Royal Niger Company). Flegel, despite a severe illness, ascended the Benue to Yola, but was unable to accomplish his mission. He returned to the coast and died at Brass, at the mouth of the Niger, on the 11th of September 1886. (See further [Goldie, Sir George].)