Strafford, Earl of

Strafford, Earl of 

(Thomas Wentworth). Born Apr. 13, 1593, in London; died there May 12, 1641. English statesman.

Wentworth was first elected to Parliament in 1614. During the 1620’s, he was a leader of the opposition; however, he went over to the side of the king in 1628. He became one of the closest advisers of Charles I, who bestowed enormous power on him. In 1632 he was made lord deputy of Ireland, and in 1640 he became earl of Strafford. On Nov. 11, 1640, at the beginning of the English bourgeois revolution of the 17th century, Strafford was accused of high treason by the Long Parliament; he was arrested and later executed.