A TALK about one of the English Civil War’s most fascinating characters is to take place in Worcester.

Major General Sir Edward Massey was the Parliamentary Governor of Gloucester when the city was besieged by King Charles I and his Royalist Army in 1643. Yet he turned up in the Royalist army of King Charles II at the Battle of Worcester in 1651.

The talk about the life and times of Massey (whose name is also spelled Massie) is to be given by Richard Graham, MP for Gloucester, in The Great Hall of The Commandery, Sidbury, Worcester, on Thursday, May 2. It starts at 7pm and kicks off the Civil War Nights 2019 programme of the Battle of Worcester Society.

Mr Graham is an expert on Massey, who was wounded in a Battle of Worcester skirmish at Upton-upon-Severn, which explains the title of his talk, “Hero, Traitor or Survivor?”

Massey first fought in the Dutch army against the armies of Philip III of Spain, who ruled the Spanish Netherlands, and in 1639 appeared as a captain of pioneers in the army raised by Charles I of England to fight against the Scots. At the outbreak of the English Civil War, he was with the King at York, but soon joined the Parliamentary army.

As lieutenant colonel under the Earl of Stamford, Massey became deputy governor of Gloucester and then governor early in 1643. He conducted minor operations against numerous small bodies of Royalists and marshalled the defence of Gloucester against the King's main army in August 1643 “with great steadiness and ability”, receiving the thanks of Parliament and a grant of £1,000 for his services.

After falling out with the Parliamentarians Massey fled England in June 1647 and escaped to Holland. From there he openly took the side of the Royalists and accompanied Charles II to Scotland. He fought against Cromwell's army at the Bridge of Stirling and Inverkeithing and commanded the advanced guard of the Royalist army in the invasion of England in 1651. It was hoped that Massey's influence would win over the towns of the Severn valley to the cause of the King and the march of the army on Worcester was partly inspired by this expectation.

In the ensuing battle he was seriously wounded and when Massey realised his wounds were dangerously slowing Charles II down during his escape he persuaded Charles to continue without him, although the King was reluctant to leave him. Massey was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London, but managed to escape to Holland.

He later returned to England and in 1661 was re-elected MP for Gloucester in the Cavalier Parliament. The rest of his life was spent on political, military and administrative business. He was unmarried and died in 1674 in Ireland, where he had been granted the manor of Abbeyleix.

Battle of Worcester Society chairman Richard Shaw said: “Richard Graham's not so secret passion is history, but he was an airline manager, a diplomat and a pensions manager before he became the MP for Gloucester in 2010. He is the Prime Minister's trade envoy for much of South East Asia, the chairman of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy and the founder chairman of the Gloucester History Festival.”

Tickets for the illustrated talk are £7, £5 for Battle of Worcester Society members and £3 for students, available from The Commandery Shop, the Tourist Information Centre, on line at thebattleofworcestersociety.org, or on the door on the night, but pre- booking is advised.