William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford

William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford (8 June 1626 – 16 October 1695), Knight of the Garter, of Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire, was a prominent landowner.

For the later Earl of Strafford of the same name, see William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford (1722–1791). For other people with the same name, see William Wentworth.
Memorial to William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford and one of his two wives. York Minster
Coat of arms of William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford, KG
Inscription on monument to William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford describing his ancestry and succession

Origins

He was born at Wentworth Woodhouse, the only surviving son of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford (d.1641) by his second wife Arabella Holles, a daughter of John Holles, 1st Earl of Clare.[1] His mother died in childbirth when he was five years old, after which his father remarried to Elizabeth Rhodes, who was a kindly stepmother to William and his sisters.

Career

He studied at Trinity College Dublin. When his father was executed for treason in 1641, William left England for several years, mainly for fear of reprisals (although most of his father's enemies bore no ill-will to his widow or children), and lived for a while in France. He is said to have acted as a Royalist agent in Germany and Denmark, in partnership with Henry Coventry, which ended in a bitter quarrel, and a duel.

In 1652 he was allowed to return to England on taking an oath of abjuration. In 1662 the bill of attainder against his father was reversed by Parliament, and he regained the title of Earl of Strafford and was invested as a Knight of the Garter in 1661. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1668 but was expelled in 1685.[2]

He led a rather "obscure, undistinguished and uninteresting life",[3] however his 1667 speech in the House of Lords was praiseworthy,[4] protesting against the banishment of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, on the grounds that no crime had been proved against him; his attitude is the more creditable since Clarendon had been one of his father's bitterest enemies.[5] He became a member of the Privy Council in 1674, and attended the crucial meeting in 1678 when Titus Oates first revealed his fabricated Popish Plot.[6] During the Exclusion Crisis he supported the future King James II, and made a point of calling on him when James travelled through Yorkshire on his way to Scotland in 1679.

He may be summed up as "rather indolent and lacking in character",[7] but was much loved by his family, especially by his father, whose last letter was to "dearest Will" from "a father that tenderly loves you".[8]

Marriages

He married twice:

Death and burial

He died in Yorkshire on 16 October 1695 and was buried in York Minster.

Strafford County, New Hampshire in the United States is named in his honour.

Succession

Having no children nor surviving brothers, the earldom became extinct, but his title of Baron Raby was inherited by his first cousin once-removed Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford (1672-1739), the grandson of a younger brother of the 1st Earl, who became Earl of Strafford in a new creation. His vast estates however, including Wentworth Woodhouse, passed to his younger nephew Thomas Watson, the third son of his sister Anne Wentworth, who in accordance with the bequest adopted the additional surname of Wentworth.

References
  1. Burke Extinct Peerages Reprinted 1978 p.576
  2. "Library and Archive catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 2012-02-25.
  3. Wegdwood C.V. Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford-1593-1641-a revaluation Phoenix Press 1961 p.395
  4. Wegdwood
  5. C.V. Wedgwood pp.394-5
  6. Kenyon, J.P. "The Popish Plot" 2nd Edition Phoenix Press 2000 p.77
  7. Wedgwood p.394
  8. Wedgwood p.384
  9. Burke p.577
  10. see
  11. Wedgwood p.395
Peerage of England
Vacant
Attainted
Title last held by
Thomas Wentworth		 Earl of Strafford
1st creation
1662–1695		 Extinct
Re-created in 1711 for his kinsman Thomas Wentworth
Preceded by
Thomas Wentworth		 Baron Raby
1st creation
1662–1695		 Succeeded by
Thomas Wentworth
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.