George Radcliffe

Who was George Radcliffe?

Sir George Radcliffe was an English lawyer and politician; he spent much of his political career in Ireland and was a key member of the firm and ruthless Strafford administration. He spent his last years in exile.

Born the son of Nicholas Radcliffe of Overthorpe, West Yorkshire, Radcliffe was educated at Oldham and at University College, Oxford. He attained some measure of success as a barrister, and about 1626 became the confidential adviser of Sir Thomas Wentworth, afterwards earl of Strafford, who was related to his wife, Anne Trappes. Strafford was a man with a gift for making enemies, but Radcliffe remained a devoted friend for life. Strafford's biographer notes that "in all the crises of his life it was to Radcliffe that he opened his heart".

Like his master he was imprisoned in 1627 for declining to contribute to a forced loan, but he shared the good, as well as the ill, fortunes of Wentworth, acting as his adviser when he was president of the Council of the North.