Home > William Strode

He was admitted as a student of the Inner Temple in 1614, matriculated at Exeter College, Oxford, in 1617, and took the degree of BA. in 1619. He was returned to parliament in 1624 for Beeralston, and represented the borough in all succeeding parliaments till his death. He from the first threw himself into opposition to Charles I and took a leading part in the disorderly scene of the 2nd of March 1629, when the speaker, Sir John Finch, refusing to put the resolution of Sir J Eliot against arbitrary taxation and innovations in religion, was held down in the chair (see Denzil Holles). Prosecuted before the star chamber, he refused "to answer anything done in the House of Parliament but in that House."

On May 7 a fresh warrant was issued, and a month later, to prevent his release on bail, he was sent by Charles with two of his fellow members to the Tower. Refusing to give a bond for his good behaviour, he was sentenced to imprisonment during the king's pleasure, and was kept in confinement in various prisons for eleven years. In January 1640, in accordance with the king's new policy of moderation, he was liberated; and on April 13 took his seat in the Short ParliamentThe Short Parliament (April-May, 1640) of King Charles I is so called because it lasted only three weeks. Charles recalled Parliament in 1640, after eleven years of attempting to rule without one. He was forced to call the Short Parliament primarily to ob, with a mind embittered by the sense of his wrongs. In the Long ParliamentThe Long Parliament is the name of the English Parliament called by Charles I, in 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It receives its name from the fact that it sat almost continuously during the English Civil War until 1660. The sole reason Charles reasse, which met on November 3November 3 is the 307th day of the year (308th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 58 days remaining. Events 1755 The colony of Massachusetts offers a bounty of 20 British pounds for the scalps of native american boys and girls under the age of 1640, he was the first to propose the control by parliament over ministerial appointments, the militia, and its own duration; supported the Grand Remonstrance of November 7November 7 is the 311th day of the year (312th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 54 days remaining. Events 1665 The London Gazette, the oldest surviving journal, is first published. 1783 A man convicted of forgery is the last to be publicly h 1641Events The Long Parliament passes a series of legislation designed to contain Charles I's absolutist tendencies. August 10 Charles I of England flees London for the north Rebellion of the Gaelic Irish in Ulster against the English settlers The Dutch found; and displayed a violent zeal in pursuing the prosecution of Strafford, actually proposing that all who appeared as the prisoner's counsel should be charged as conspirators in the same treason." As a result he was included among the five members impeached by Charles of high treasonIn law, treason is the crime of disloyalty to one's nation. A person who reneges on an oath of loyalty or a pledge of allegiance, and in some way willfully cooperates with an enemy, is considered to be a traitor . Oran's Dictionary of the Law ( 1983) defi on January 3January 3 is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 362 days remaining (363 in leap years). Events 1496 Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine 1521 Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther. 1749 Benning Wentworth issu 1642Events January 4 Charles I attempts to arrest five leading members of the Long Parliament, but they escape. Beginning of English Civil War. March 1 Georgeana, Massachusetts (now known as York, Maine) becomes the first incorporated city in America May 17 S.

He opposed all suggestions of compromise with Charles, urged on the preparations for war, and on October 23 was present at the battle of Edgehill. In the prosecution of Laud he showed the same relentless zeal as he had in that of Strafford, and it was he who, on November 28 1644, carried up the message from the Commons to the Lords, desiring them to hasten on the ordinance for the archbishop's execution. Strode did not long survive his victim. He is mentioned as having been elected a member of the assembly of divines on January 31 1645. He died on September 9 of the same year, and by order of parliament was accorded a public funeral in Westminster Abbey. The body was exhumed after the Restoration.

Strode was a man of strong character, but of narrow, though clear and decided judgment, both his good and his bad qualities being exaggerated by the wrongs he had suffered: Clarendon speaks of him as a man "of low account and esteem," who only gained his reputation by his accidental association with those greater than himself; but to his own party his "insuperable constancie" gave him a title to rank with those who had, at a time when the liberties of England hung in the balance, deserved best of their country.

The identity of the W Strode imprisoned in 1628 and of the W Strode impeached in 1642 has been questioned, but is now established (J Forster, Arrest of the Five Members, p 198, note; Life of Sir J. Eliot, ed. 1872, ii. 237, note; JL Sanford, Studies, p. 397; Gardiner, Hist. of England, ix. 223). On the other hand he is to be distinguished from Colonel Wm. Strode of Barrington, also parliamentarian and M.P., who died in 1666; and from William Strode (1602 or 1600-1645), the orator, poet and dramatist, whose poetical works were edited, with a memoir, by Bertram Dobell in 1907.

This entry was originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.