Background
Strickland was the eldest son of Sir William Strickland of Boynton, a Yorkshire landowner and Member of Parliament, and his wife Elizabeth Palmes.
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William Strickland
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In 1708 Strickland"s father, who for some years had been Member of Parliament for the local borough of Malton, was instead chosen as Member for Yorkshire – a much more prestigious constituency – and Strickland took his place representing Malton. He remained Member of Parliament for Malton until 1715, then represented Carlisle from 1715 to 1722 and finally Scarborough for the remaining thirteen years of his life. He inherited the baronetcy on his father"s death in 1724.
He held a succession of junior posts.
He was a Lord of the Treasury from 1725 to 1727, and also became Treasurer of the Household to the Queen. In 1729 he chaired a Parliamentary Committee on reform of the legal profession.
In 1730, when Walpole reconstructed his government and promoted Henry Pelham to be Paymaster-General, Strickland was chosen to take his place as Secretary at War (arguably the most important ministerial post outside the cabinet), and was made a Privy Counsellor. This post he held until forced to retire by ill health in May 1735.
He died later the same year at Boynton.
Away from Parliament, Sir William spent a considerable sum on ambitious alterations to his home, Boynton Hall, commissioning Lord Burlington to design a new frontage and William Kent to design the interiors. However, when he returned from London to view the work he found to his fury that the local builders had failed to follow Lord Burlington"s instructions, and the rebuilt hall bore little resemblance to the plans, in particular having an "old-fashioned roof" instead of the fashionable Palladian style he had been expecting!.
Membership
2nd Parliament of Great Britain. 3rd Parliament of Great Britain. 4th Parliament of Great Britain.
6th Parliament of Great Britain.
7th Parliament of Great Britain. 8th Parliament of Great Britain.
5th Parliament of Great Britain.
