The declaration appointing Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector
Proclamation of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector, 1653. The Protectorate was established in December 1653, following a meeting of Council. Newspapers carried accounts of the ceremony and a printed proclamation announced that the ‘Government of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland… is now established;…Oliver Cromwell, Captain Generall of all the forces… is declared Lord Protector of the Nations…’
