'' (3rd ed., 1670), written by "H.S. E. C.P." (Henry Scobell, Esquire, Clerk of Parliament) Initially under-clerk of the parliaments, Scobell became
Clerk of the House of Commons from 5 January 1649, his predecessor
Henry Elsynge having resigned. Scobell also held a position as censor of publications, and then was
Clerk of the Parliaments for life with effect from 14 May 1649. He was the first editor, from 9 October 1649, of
Severall Proceedings in Parliament, an early official newspaper, and the second of Parliament's publications. In the
Rump Parliament, Scobell found himself in the middle of the clashes leading to its dissolution in 1653. He remained Clerk to
Barebone's Parliament. From 1655 Scobell became Clerk to the
Council of State, a large jump in status, in succession to
John Thurloe and sharing the position with William Jessop. Up to then he had been for a period an assistant secretary to the council. In 1658, as a preliminary to the
Savoy Assembly, Scobell called together elders of Independent churches from the London area, in the house of
George Griffith (bishop). He himself was an elder of the Congregational church of
John Rowe, meeting in
Westminster Abbey. In October 1659 he was one of those calling on
George Monck to intervene in the vacuum of power after the death of
Oliver Cromwell. ==Works==