Oliver Cromwell was born on April 25, 1599 in Huntingdon, Huntingshire, England, to parents Elzabeth Stuart and Robert Cromwell. He came from a wealthy and influential family in East Anglia. His father, Robert Cromwell, had a prestigious lineage tracing back to Thomas Cromwell, the 'Earl of Essex' appointed by King Henry VIII in 1540. This event is significant as Oliver Cromwell later became the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland.