Richard, eldest son of Oliver Cromwell, was by his father appointed successor to the protectorship, but he was very soon deposed by the army. They discharged his debts, took all the household stuff, plate, and other articles, gave him a protection for six months; and so he retired. He was by no means qualified to support the station gained by the great and aspiring talents of his father. He was of a moderate temper, and untainted with that fanatical spirit which his father had so successfully cultivated. On the Restoration he went abroad, but returned in 1680 under the assumed name of Clarke, and settled in Cheshunt, in Hertfordshire, where he lived privately, and died in 1712, aged eighty-six.