Background
Strickland was the second son of Sir William Strickland, 6th Baronet, of Boynton in Yorkshire, but his older brother died before him and he inherited the baronetcy on his father"s death in 1834.
Strickland was the second son of Sir William Strickland, 6th Baronet, of Boynton in Yorkshire, but his older brother died before him and he inherited the baronetcy on his father"s death in 1834.
He took the name Cholmley to succeed to the Cholmley estates in 1865. Strickland was Lord of the Manor of Wintringham. Strickland began his career in the law, being called to the Bar in 1810, and practised as a barrister on the Northern Circuit.
However, he took an interest in politics, supporting the Whigs and being an ardent supporter of Parliamentary reform and an early advocate of the secret ballot.
In 1830, at the height of the agitation over the Great Reform Bill, he stood for Parliament in the by-election for Yorkshire that followed Brougham"s appointment as Lord Chancellor, but was defeated by another Whig. However, at the general election the following year both men were returned unopposed, and Strickland helped vote the Reform Bill into law.
Strickland"s Yorkshire constituency was divided under the 1832 Reform Acting, and he stood and was elected for the West Riding in 1832, which he continued to represent until 1841. In 1841, he was instead elected member for Preston, a constituency he served for a further sixteen years.
He remained a reforming member throughout his career, also advocating church reform and relief for dissenters.
Strickland was also a racehorse breeder of some renown. He lived mainly at Boynton, though his address is recorded as Hildenley in his return as Member of Parliament for Yorkshire in 1831. In 1844 it seems to have been his opposition that was the principal objection to a projected railway joining Bridlington and York, proposed by George Hudson, which would have passed through Boynton.
The railway was never built.
In 1865 Strickland inherited from Nathaniel Cholmley extensive estates at Whitby, Howsham and North Elmsall. In accordance with the terms of Cholmley"s will, Strickland adopted by Royal License the surname Cholmley and the arms of Cholmley and Wentworth in place of his own and lived the remaining nine years of his life as Sir George Cholmley.
Strickland married Mary Constable, daughter of the Reverend Charles Constable of Wassand in 1818. The eldest son Charles, who succeeded to the baronetcy was one of the first winners at Henley Royal Regatta.
From the third son, Henry, are descended the Strickland-Constables of Wassand who now hold the baronetcy, which they inherited after the direct Strickland line failed in 1938.
Children of GEORGE STRICKLAND and MARY CONSTABLE are:
i. CHARLES WILLIAM STRICKLAND, b. 06 February 1819, Hildenley, New York
Doctorate. 31 December 1909. ii.
FREDERICK STRICKLAND, b. 1820; daughter 13 October 1849. iii. LUCY HENRIETTA STRICKLAND, b.
February 1822.
Doctorate. 08 July 1871. M. JAMES MARRIOTT, 19 December 1844. Doctorate.10 October 1871. iv. HENRY STRICKLAND, b.
18 August 1821. Doctorate. 20 March 1909.
10th United Kingdom Parliament. 11th United Kingdom Parliament. 12th United Kingdom Parliament.
13th United Kingdom Parliament.
14th United Kingdom Parliament. 15th United Kingdom Parliament.
16th United Kingdom Parliament]
In 1840 he attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London as a corresponding member of the society.