Sir William Strickland, 4th Baronet (c. 16861 September 1735), of Boynton,

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

, was an English landowner and Whig politician, who sat in the

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from 1708 to 1735. He was a Government Minister in Sir Robert Walpole's administration. Boynton Hall

Strickland was the eldest son of Sir William Strickland of Boynton, a Yorkshire landowner and Member of Parliament, and his wife Elizabeth Palmes. At the

1708 British general election The 1708 British general election was the first general election to be held after the Acts of Union had united the Parliaments of England and Scotland. The election saw the Whigs gain a majority in the House of Commons, and by November the Whi ...

Strickland's father, who for some years had been MP for the local borough of Malton, was instead chosen as Member for

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

– a much more prestigious constituency – and Strickland took his place representing Malton. From the first he was a loyal Whig and was recognised as a strong speaker. Strickland remained MP for Malton until 1715, then represented

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

from 1715 to 1722 and finally

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

for the remaining thirteen years of his life. Strickland inherited the

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

and

Boynton Hall Boynton Hall is a country house in the village of Boynton near Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is a Grade I listed building. Originally constructed in the late 16th century, the house has been remodelled several times. It i ...

near Scarborough on his father's death in 1724. He became a friend of Robert Walpole and held a succession of junior posts. He was a

Lord of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords (or Ladies) Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second L ...

from 1725 to 1727, and also became

Treasurer of the Household The Treasurer of the Household is a member of the Royal Households of the United Kingdom, Royal Household of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The position is usually held by one of the government deputy Chief ...

to the Queen. In 1729 he chaired a Parliamentary Committee on reform of the legal profession. In 1730, when Walpole reconstructed his government and promoted

Henry Pelham Henry Pelham (25 September 1694 – 6 March 1754) was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1743 until his death in 1754. He was the younger brother of Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, who serv ...

to be

Paymaster General His Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The position is currently held by Nick Thomas-Symonds of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. History The post was ...

, Strickland was chosen to take his place as

Secretary at War The secretary at war was a political position in the English and later British government, with some responsibility over the administration and organization of the Army, but not over military policy. The Secretary at War ran the War Office. Aft ...

(arguably the most important ministerial post outside the cabinet), and was made a

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. This post he held until forced to retire by ill health in May 1735. Away from Parliament, Sir William spent a considerable sum on ambitious alterations to Boynton Hall, commissioning Lord Burlington to design a new frontage and

William Kent William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, b ...

to design the interiors. However, when he returned from London to view the work he found to his fury that the local builders had failed to follow Lord Burlington's instructions, and the rebuilt hall bore little resemblance to the plans, in particular having an "old-fashioned roof" instead of the fashionable Palladian style he had been expecting! Srickland died on 1 September 1735 at Boynton. He had married Catherine Sambrooke, daughter of Sir Jeremy Sambrooke, by settlement dated 9 March 1723. They had one son – George, who succeeded him in the baronetcy – and one daughter. His wife outlived him by more than thirty years, dying on 9 February 1767.

References

*J Foster, ''Pedigrees of the County Families of Yorkshire'' (1874) *G R Park, ''The Parliamentary Representation of Yorkshire'' (1886) *''Victoria County History of the East Riding of Yorkshire'' *Memorial inscription, Boynton Church, Yorkshire {{DEFAULTSORT:Strickland, William 1680s births 1735 deaths Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Strickland, Sir William, 4th Baronet Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Whig (British political party) MPs People from Bridlington British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Carlisle