Sir George Strickland, 7th Baronet

Sir George Strickland, 7th Baronet (26 May 1782 – 23 December 1874), also known as Sir George Cholmley was an English Member of Parliament and lawyer. He took the name Cholmley to succeed to the Cholmley estates in 1865.

Life

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 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,^[1] and Strickland helped vote the Reform Bill into law.

Strickland's Yorkshire constituency was divided under the 1832 Reform Act, and he stood and was elected for the West Riding in 1832,^[2] which he continued to represent^[3] until 1841. In 1840 he attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London as a corresponding member of the society.^[4]

In 1841, he was instead elected member for Preston,^[5] a constituency he served for a further sixteen years.^[6][7] 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 MP for Yorkshire in 1831.^[1] 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^[8] 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. On his death in 1874, however, his eldest son and heir Charles reverted to the Strickland surname and arms.

Strickland married Mary Constable, daughter of the Reverend Charles Constable of Wassand in 1818. They had three sons and two daughters. 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.

His second son, Frederick Strickland was the one who was friends with Francis Galton and whose horrible death Galton described. ^[9] Children of GEORGE STRICKLAND and MARY CONSTABLE are:

• i. CHARLES WILLIAM STRICKLAND, b. 06 Feb 1819, Hildenley, York; d. 31 Dec 1909.
• ii. FREDERICK STRICKLAND, b. 1820; d. 13 Oct 1849.
• iii. LUCY HENRIETTA STRICKLAND, b. Feb 1822; d. 08 Jul 1871; m. JAMES MARRIOTT, 19 Dec 1844; d.10 Oct 1871.
• iv. HENRY STRICKLAND, b. 18 Aug 1821; d. 20 Mar 1909

References

1. The London Gazette: no. 18804. p. 948. 17 May 1831. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
2. The London Gazette: no. 19010. p. 27. 4 January 1833. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
3. The London Gazette: no. 19533. p. 2181. 18 August 1837. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
4. BFASS Convention 1840, List of delegates, Retrieved 2 August 2015
5. The London Gazette: no. 19998. p. 1811. 13 July 1841. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
6. The London Gazette: no. 20763. p. 2920. 10 August 1847. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
7. The London Gazette: no. 21339. p. 1972. 16 July 1852. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
8. The London Gazette: no. 22954. p. 1882. 4 April 1865. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
9. Death of Frederick Strickland on Mount Washington

• Memorial inscription, Boynton Church, Yorkshire
• A Gooder (ed.) “The Parliamentary Representation of Yorkshire, 1258-1832” (Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Record Series, 1935)
• J Holladay Philbin, "Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales" (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
• M Stenton (ed.), "Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume I: 1832-1885" (Hassocks: Harvester Press, 1976)
• Victoria County History of the East Riding of Yorkshire

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir George Strickland