Thomas Wentworth was born on April 13, 1593 in London, England, the son of Sir William Wentworth, of Wentworth Woodhouse, near Rotherham, a member of an ancient family long established there, and of Anne, daughter of Sir Robert Atkins of Stowell, Gloucestershire.
Wentworth was educated at St John's College, Cambridge.
In 1614 Wentworth represented Yorkshire in the Addled Parliament, but, so far as is now known, it was not till the parliament of 1621, in which he sat for the same constituency, that he took part in the debates. He was returned for Pontefract to the parliament of 1624, but appears to have taken no part in the proceedings. In the first parliament of Charles I, June 1625, he again represented Yorkshire, and at once marked his hostility to the proposed war with Spain by supporting a motion for an adjournment before the house proceeded to business. His position was very different from that of the regular opposition. He was anxious to serve the Crown, but he disapproved of the king's policy. At all events he refused in 1627 to contribute to the forced loan, and was imprisoned in consequence. Wentworth's position in the parliament of 1628 was a striking one. With the approbation of the House he led the movement for a bill which would have secured the liberties of the subject as completely as the Petition of Right afterwards did, but in a manner less offensive to the king. This implied no change of principle whatever. Such and no other was the nature of Wentworth's so-called "apostacy. " As yet Wentworth took no part in the general government of the country.
In January 1632 he had been named lord-deputy of Ireland, and arrived in Dublin in July 1633. Here he had to deal with a people who had not arrived at national cohesion, and amongst whom English colonists had been from time to time introduced, some of them, like the early Norman settlers, being Roman Catholics, whilst the later importations stood aloof and preserved their Protestantism. In his government here he showed the most remarkable abilities as a ruler. He reformed the administration, getting rid summarily of the inefficient English officials. The customs rose from a little over £25, 000 in 1633-1634 to £57, 000 in 1637-1638. He raised an army and swept the pirates from the seas. He reformed and instilled life into the Church and rescued church property. His strong and even administration broke down the tyranny of the great men over the poor. Yet these good measures were all carried out by arbitrary methods which diminished their usefulness and their stability.
Wentworth continued his effective and firm-handed administration of Ireland until 1639, when he was recalled to England by King Charles. The King needed advice and support in handling a Scottish revolt precipitated by an ill-conceived attempt to enforce episcopacy on the Scots. Wentworth was created earl of Strafford (1640) and was expected to resolve the crisis. But his policy of making war on Scotland proved disastrous for both himself and the King. The English Parliament, called especially to vote money for the war, proved recalcitrant, and Strafford, in command of the English army, failed to prevent the Scots from overrunning the northern counties. The King, unable to pay his own troops or to buy off the Scots, was compelled by joint English and Scottish action to call a new Parliament in November 1640.
Strafford was the chief target of attack from both nations. He was advised to leave the country, but the King relied on his help and assured him that he should not suffer in life or fortune. Detained by illness, he reached Westminster on November 10 with the intention of impeaching the King’s opponents in Parliament for treasonable correspondence with the Scots. The leader of the Commons, John Pym, acted first by impeaching Strafford before he could take his seat in the House of Lords.
His trial began in March 1641. The basic accusation was that of subverting the laws and was supported by a charge that he had offered to bring over the Irish army to subdue the King’s opponents in England. More detailed charges rested on his administration in Ireland and the north. He conducted his defense with great skill, and it looked at one point as though he might be acquitted. Pym therefore introduced a bill of attainder (i. e. , a summary condemnation to death by special act of Parliament). The Commons passed it by a large majority; the Lords, intimidated by popular rioting, passed it, too, but by a much smaller majority.
While an angry mob surged around Whitehall, Strafford wrote to the King releasing him from his promise of protection, and Charles, afraid for the safety of the Queen, gave his consent to the bill. Strafford went to the scaffold on May 12, 1641, in the presence of an immense and jubilant crowd. In his last speech he once more professed his faith in “the joint and individual prosperity of the king and his people, ” for which, in his view, he had always worked.
He remains an enigmatic figure in English history: ambitious, greedy for power and wealth, ruthless, and sometimes dishonest, but with a vision of benevolent authoritarian government and efficient administration to which he often gave persuasive expression. He made innumerable enemies, but his few close friends were deeply attached to him. In the last weeks of his life his dignity, eloquence, and loyalty to the King made a deep impression even on some of his enemies.
Member of Parliament for Yorkshire
In 1611 Wentworth married Margaret, daughter of Francis Clifford, Earl of Cumberland and Grisold Hughes. In 1622 his first wife died. Wentworth according to his friends was deeply grieved by her death; but in February 1625 he married Arabella Holles, daughter of John Holles, 1st Earl of Clare and Anne Stanhope: a marriage which was generally believed to be a true love affair on both sides. Arabella died in 1632. Despite Wentworth's grief for Arabella, his third marriage to Elizabeth Rhodes in 1632 was also a happy one.
