STRAF'FORD, THOMAS WENTWORTH, first Earl of (1593-1641). An English statesman. He was born April 13, 1593, in London, of an old Yorkshire family. He was educated at Saint John's College, Cambridge. and later (1607) be came a student of the Inner Temple. He was married in 1611 and knighted in the same year, after which he traveled on the Continent. In 1614 his father died'and he succeeded to the title of baronet and a large estate. He was a member of the last three Parliaments of James 1. In the Parliaments of 1621 and 1624 he supported the Crown against those who were trying to force England into a war with Spain. In the first Parliament of Charles 1. he opposed Bucking ham, who had now adopted the same policy of war with Spain, yet he was not in sympathy with Eliot and the Puritans. In the Parliament of 1625 he became the real leader of the House of Commons, though no formal lead ership was recognized in those days. lie intro duced a bill similar in tenor to the Petition of Rights (q.v.), hut containing no declaration that the law had been violated in the past. Charles, however, refused to accept it, and Wentworth, unwilling to resist the King further, allowed the opposition to pass into other and more hostile hands. He supported the Petition of Right and was then apparently satisfied that the 'ancient government' of the kingdom had been restored. In June, 1628, lie was made baron, on December 10th viscount, and on December 25th president of the Council of the North. On November 10, 1629, he was made member of the Privy Council. As president of the Council of the North he was the royal executive in that region and he exer cised his authority vigorously and a little rough ly in checking insubordination. His anti-Puritan sympathies had already drawn him into intimate relations with Laud, which ripened into a life long friendship. On January 12, 1632, Went worth was made Lord Deputy of Ireland and he went to Dublin in July. 1633. His administra
tion lasted six years before events in England drew his attention away. His task was a difficult one and his actions were arbitrary and often harsh, but on the whole extremely beneficial. Trade and industry were encouraged, disorders and numerous abuses were suppressed. and Ire land enjoyed unprecedented material prosperity. In 1639 Wentworth visited England. On Janu ary 12, 1640, he was created Earl of Strafford, and thenceforth he was the King's most influen tial adviser. Already the Scottish troubles had reached an acute stage. On account of his long absence, Strafford failed to appreciate the changed temper of the English people, and habits of arbitrary rule had grown upon him. He ad vocated the strongest measures and hurried back to Ireland to raise money and troops for Charles. This was made the basis of his impeachment on the meeting of the Long Parliament. Charles promised him that if he would come to London to meet the charges, he "should not suffer in his person, honor, or fortune." inasmuch as the charges against him, even if proved, did not con stitute treason as defined by the statute of Ed ward III., Parliament changed the impeachment into a bill of attainder, though Strafford was still heard in his own defense. His doom was sealed when Parliament discovered that Charles was plotting to rescue him by force. On :May 8, 1641 the attainder hill was passed and on the 10th Charles, daring to resist no longer, signed it with StrafTord'A consent. Strafford was be headed two days later.
Our estimate of Strafford's character will al ways rest principally upon his own recorded words. They will he found in The Earl of Straf ford's Letters and Despatches, with an Essay Towards. His Life, ed. by Radcliffe (2 vols., Lon don, 1739). Consult also Gardiner, History of England 160,3-42 (10 vols., London and New lork, 1883-84).