William Strode (of Barrington)
Colonel William Strode, Jr (11 January 1589,
Biography
Family and early life
Strode was the youngest son of William Strode, Sr (1566-1592) of
Civil War
At the beginning of the
Colonel William Strode ... learning of Sir Ralph's intentions, rode from his manor house at Downside with his son and four servants, all but two of them well armed. Reaching the market place about the same time ... Strode demanded to know the reason for the Cavaliers' visit and such a show of arms. Whereupon Sir Ralph bid him to alight and hear the petition read. To which Col. Strode barked: "I come not to hear petitions, but to suppress insurrections", and considerably roused demanded they leave the town. In reply, Sir Ralph laid hold of Col. Strode ... and arrested him on suspicion of treason. In the struggle that ensued, Sir Fernando [Gorges] struck Col. Strode with a
halbert.... With this Strode fell from his horse, and a number of Cavaliers, closing in, drew their swords and held their points towards his body. Seeing this, one of Col. Strode's servants presented a pistol and held it to ... Hopton, and would have killed him but for a quick-witted Sheptonian ... who snatched the pistol from him.... Strode, thus being arrested and handed over to the local Constable, Sir Ralph commenced to read the ... Royalist ... petition, and asked for supporters of it to come forward. After much mumbling and cursing from the large and rapidly growing crowd, only one man stepped forward ... which Col. Strode was asked to notice. To which he shouted explosively: "This is of no surprise to me. For this man is but one of the incendiaries of the town, but we are of the County and of Parliament and I demand, therefore, Sir, you quit the town." On this the Constable was instructed to take Col. Strode before the Marquess .... While preparations were being made, a disturbance from the direction of Town Street caused some distraction. A single Cavalier had come at full gallop ... and was forcing himself through the dense crowd to Sir Ralph's side. Sir Ralph listened... with clear amazement, as he was told of the many country folk who were closing on Shepton in support of Col. Strode. At this news Sir Ralph and his Cavaliers turned horse ... in alarm and sent a message for Captain John Digby to bring his troops... and rode in haste from Shepton, a much disillusioned and angry man.[3]
After this confrontation Strode took command of the Somerset Trained Bands at Shepton Malet;[4] these were later converted into a fulltime Parliamentarian regiment with Strode as colonel.[5]
In August there was a serious skirmish near Marshall’s Elm, Somerset, between a troop of Royalist horsemen under Sir John Stawell of Cothelstone and about 600 Parliamentary foot soldiers, mainly from Taunton, sent under orders from Col. Strode. (Strode owned the local "Street" demesne estate — called "the Grange" — one of several he had bought in the county). The Royalists ambushed and charged their opponents, driving them towards Somerton. There were complaints concerning the treatment of prisoners and Stawell’s refusal to bury the seven dead (another 18 or 20 later died of their wounds).
In 1646 Strode was returned to the
Last years
In 1661, after the restoration of Charles II, Strode was imprisoned and obliged to make submission for disobeying the orders of the king's deputy-lieutenants in Somerset. He died in 1666, aged 77.[2] He was buried at the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Barrington.[7]
Legacy
Descendants
- Strode's eldest son, Duke of Monmouth.[8]
- Another son, Edward Strode (ca. 1629–1703), built the Merchant's House, Shepton Mallet, and similarly courted grief by supporting the Duke of Monmouth.
Namesakes
- In West Cranmore, between Shepton Mallet and Frome, is the picturesque stone pub "The Strode Arms" with the Arms of the Strode family displayed outside.
- The Strode Theatre (1963), Street, Somerset, England, is named for him.
References
- ^ Green, Emmanuel (1885), An Historic Doubt Solved: William Strode One of the Five Members, William Strode Colonel in the Parliament Army, Taunton (Originally published [1884], in Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society).
- ^ a b Clark, W.S. "Street, William Strode & the Civil War". Glastonbury Antiquarians. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ Davis, Fred, Alan Blandford and Lewis Beckerleg (1977), The Shepton Mallet Story: A Brief Historical Sketch, 2nd edition, The Shepton Mallet Society, pp 45-46.
- ^ Strode's Trained Band Regiment at British Civil Wars Project.
- ^ Strode's Foot at British Civil Wars Project.
- ^ Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. (public domain) .
- ^ A P Baggs and R J E Bush, 'Parishes: Barrington', in A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 4, ed. R W Dunning (London, 1978), pp. 113-121. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/som/vol4/pp113-121 [accessed 1 October 2017].
- ^ "STRODE, William II (c.1625-95), of Barrington, Som". The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 1 October 2017.