Sir William Strickland, 1st Baronet

Who was Sir William Strickland, 1st Baronet?

Sir William Strickland, 1st Baronet was an English Member of Parliament who supported the parliamentary cause during the English Civil War.

Sir William Strickland was the eldest son of Walter Strickland of Boynton, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, inheriting his estate on his death in 1636. He was educated at Queens’ College, Cambridge, and proceeded to Gray’s Inn though he seems not to have qualified as a barrister. He was knighted in 1630, and in 1640 was elected to Parliament as member for Hedon. Initially he seems to have been a friend and supporter of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, to whom he was distantly related, although he is not one of the MPs who was listed as voting against Strafford’s attainder. Strickland was a strict Puritan, and after Strafford’s death he moved firmly towards the Parliamentary cause, although the king created him a baronet on 29 July 1641, perhaps hoping to sway him towards support for the Crown.

Strickland sat for Hedon throughout the Long Parliament, taking a hard line in support of the Commonwealth and later of Cromwell.