William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford (8 June 1626 – 16 October 1695), KG, of

Wentworth Woodhouse Wentworth Woodhouse is a Grade I listed country house in the village of Wentworth, South Yorkshire, Wentworth, in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. It is currently owned by the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation T ...

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 ...

, was a prominent landowner.

Origins

He was born at

, the only surviving son of

Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford (13 April 1593 (New Style, N.S.)12 May 1641), was an English people, English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament of England, Parliament ...

(d.1641) by his second wife Arabella Holles, a daughter of

John Holles, 1st Earl of Clare John Holles, 1st Earl of Clare (May 1564 – 4 October 1637) was an English nobleman. He was the son of Denzil Holles of Irby upon Humber and Eleanor Sheffield (daughter of Edmund Sheffield, 1st Baron Sheffield of Butterwick). His great-grand ...

. 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 Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

. When his father was executed for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

in 1641, William left

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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 France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He is said to have acted as a Royalist agent in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, in partnership with

Henry Coventry Henry Coventry (1619–1686), styled "The Honourable" from 1628, was an English politician who was Secretary of State for the Northern Department between 1672 and 1674 and the Southern Department between 1674 and 1680. Origins and education Co ...

, which ended in a bitter quarrel, and a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...

. In 1652 he was allowed to return to England on taking an

oath of abjuration Abjuration is the solemn repudiation, abandonment, or renunciation by or upon oath, often the renunciation of citizenship or some other right or privilege. The term comes from the Latin ''abjurare'', "to forswear". Abjuration of the realm Abju ...

. In 1662 the

bill of attainder A bill of attainder (also known as an act of attainder, writ of attainder, or bill of pains and penalties) is an act of a legislature declaring a person, or a group of people, guilty of some crime, and providing for a punishment, often without a ...

against his father was reversed by Parliament, and he regained the title of

Earl of Strafford Earl of Strafford is a title that has been created three times in English and British history. The first creation was in the Peerage of England in January 1640 for Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, the 1st Viscount Wentworth, the clo ...

and was invested as a

Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system, it is outranked in ...

in 1661. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1668 but was expelled in 1685. He led a rather "obscure, undistinguished and uninteresting life", however his 1667 speech in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

was praiseworthy, protesting against the banishment of

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (18 February 16099 December 1674) was an English statesman, lawyer, diplomat and historian who served as chief advisor to Charles I during the First English Civil War, and Lord Chancellor to Charles II fro ...

, 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. He became a member of the Privy Council in 1674, and attended the crucial meeting in 1678 when

Titus Oates Titus Oates (15 September 1649 – 12/13 July 1705) was an English priest who fabricated the "Popish Plot", a supposed Catholic conspiracy to kill King Charles II. Early life Titus Oates was born at Oakham in Rutland. His father was the Baptis ...

first revealed his fabricated

Popish Plot The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy invented by Titus Oates that between 1678 and 1681 gripped the kingdoms of England and Scotland in anti-Catholic hysteria. Oates alleged that there was an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinat ...

. During the

Exclusion Crisis The Exclusion Crisis ran from 1679 until 1681 in the reign of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland. Three Exclusion Bills sought to exclude the King's brother and heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, from the thrones of England, ...

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", 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".

Marriages

He married twice: *Firstly on 27 February 1654 to Lady Henrietta Mary Stanley, a daughter of

James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby (31 January 160715 October 1651) was an English nobleman, politician, and supporter of the Cavalier, Royalist cause in the English Civil War. Before inheriting the title in 1642 he was known as Lord Strange. He ...

by his wife Charlotte de La Trémoille (d. 1685), a daughter of Claude de La Trémoille, 2nd Duke of Thouars, by his wife Countess Charlotte Brabantina of Nassau, 2nd daughter of

William I, Prince of Orange William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

(1533-1584), great-grandfather of King William III of England. The marriage was childless and Henrietta predeceased him. There were riots associated with her funeral. She was buried in

York Minster York Minster, formally the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The minster is the seat of the archbishop of York, the second-highest of ...

, where he erected an impressive monument to her memory, which still stands. *Secondly, he married Henrietta de la Rochefoucauld, a daughter of Frederic Charles de Roye de la Rochefoucauld, Count de Roye. The Dowager Countess was buried at St James, Westminster, London, on 14 November 1732.''The Register of Burials in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster. 1723-1754''. 14 November 1732.

Death and legacy

He died in Yorkshire on 16 October 1695, aged 69, and was buried in

Strafford County, New Hampshire Strafford County is a county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 census, the population was 130,889. Its county seat is Dover. Strafford County was one of the five original counties identified for New Hampshire in 1769. It was n ...

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 There have been two creations of the title Baron Raby, both in the Peerage of England. The first was in 1640, as a subsidiary title of the Earl of Strafford (first creation). The first earl was attainted and his peerages declared forfeit in 1641, ...

was inherited by his first cousin once-removed

(1672-1739), the grandson of a younger brother of the 1st Earl, who became

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

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Strafford, William Wentworth, 2nd Earl Of 1626 births 1695 deaths People from Rotherham Members of the Privy Council of England Knights of the Garter 17th-century English nobility Earls of Strafford (1640 creation)