STRICKLAND, William (c.1686-1735), of Boynton, Yorks.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754, ed. R. Sedgwick, 1970
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

14 Dec. 1708 - 1715
1715 - 1722
1722 - 1 Sept. 1735

Family and Education

b. c.1686, 1st s. of Sir William Strickland, 3rd Bt.. m. Catherine, da. of Sir Jeremy Sambrooke of Bush Hill, Enfield, Mdx., sis. of Sir Samuel Vanacker Sambrooke, 3rd Bt., M.P., 1s. 1da. suc. fa. as 4th Bt. 12 May 1724.

Offices Held

Commr. of revenue [I] 1709-11 and 1714-25; ld. of Treasury 1725-7; treasurer to the Queen 1727-30; sec. at war 1730-9 May 1735; P.C. 11 June 1730.

Biography

Brought in by Lord Carlisle for Carlisle in 1715, Strickland voted for the septennial bill in 1716 but against the Government in the division of 4 June 1717 on Lord Cadogan. Like his father, he voted for the repeal of the Occasional Conformity and Schism Acts but against the peerage bill in 1719. In 1722 he stood successfully for Scarborough, where Walpole’s brother, Horace, as a secretary to the Treasury, had given him the Treasury patronage in preference to the former Whig Member.1 On 12 Feb. 1725 he seconded the motion for Lord Macclesfield’s impeachment, of which he was one of the managers. In the changes following Pulteney’s dismissal in the following April he secured a seat at the Treasury board, thenceforth becoming one of the chief government spokesmen. Appointed treasurer to the Queen on George II’s accession and secretary at war in 1730, he continued to take a leading part in debates till he was prevented by illness from attending Parliament in 1733. He retained his post, with Walpole deputizing for him at the War office, till May 1735, when he was relieved of his duties.2 He died 1 Sept. 1735.

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: Romney R. Sedgwick

Notes

  • 1. Undated letter from
  • 2. HMC Carlisle, 96, 97, 151; Coxe, Walpole, i. 752; Hervey, Mems. 450.