he came from horningsheath, suffolk, and was groom of the chamber to charles i. from 1642 he was governor of wallingford castle, and commanded a foot regiment of 1000 men. he fought against various roundhead commanders including lawrence crawford and richard baxter. in 1646 he was the last to surrender a major english stronghold to oliver cromwell's forces, following a siege of the castle by sir thomas fairfax. he refused to give in until he had the permission of charles i. he was a supporter of charles ii, fighting at the battle of worcester in 1651 and was made governor of yarmouth but died 6 months after the restoration. he is buried in westminster abbey. his daughter margaret blagge married the politician sidney godolphin and she was the subject of a book by john evelyn entitled "the life of mrs godolphin".