Thurloe, John (1616–1668)

English politician and prominent ally of Oliver Cromwell. As secretary of the Council of State (1652–60), he handled all the principal civil business of government, both foreign and domestic. He was responsible for organizing an intelligence network to uncover the plots of Cromwell's enemies. His records of his time in office, the Thurloe Papers, are one of the major original sources for the history of the Protectorate.

Thurloe sat in Parliament (1654–56) and in Cromwell's second council (1657). He was appointed governor of the Charterhouse in 1657, and chancellor of Glasgow University in 1658. His life was spared at the Restoration and he remained in England, although he declined to serve Charles II.