William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other men with this name, see William Wentworth (disambiguation).

William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford (8 June 162616 October 1695) was a member of the United Kingdom's House of Lords.

He was a son of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford and his second wife Arabella Holles. When his father, Thomas, was executed in 1641, William left the Kingdom of England for several years. In 1652 he was allowed to return on taking an oath of abjuration. In 1662, the bill of attainder against his father was reversed by Parliament, and he regained the title of Earl of Strafford.

On 27 February 1654, Strafford married Lady Henriette Mary Stanley. She was a daughter of James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby and Charlotte Stanley, Countess of Derby. The marriage was childless. Henriette predeceased him on 27 December 1685 but Strafford did not take a second wife.

When Strafford died childless on October 16, 1695, his earldom became extinct, but his title of Baron Raby was inherited by Thomas Wentworth, the grandson of a younger brother of the first earl, who later became Earl of Strafford of a new creation. However, Strafford's estates passed to his nephew Lewis Watson, 1st Earl of Rockingham (see Marquess of Rockingham).

Strafford County, New Hampshire in the United States is named in his honour.

Preceded by
Thomas Wentworth
Earl of Strafford
1662–1695
Succeeded by
Extinct, but title re-created in 1711 for his kinsman Thomas Wentworth
Baron Raby
1662–1695
Succeeded by
Thomas Wentworth

This biography of an earl in the peerage of England is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.