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STRODE, Richard (1638-1707), of Newnham, Plympton St. Mary, Devon
Available from Boydell and Brewer
Family and Education
bap. 11 Apr. 1638, 1st s. of William Strode† by Anne, da. and coh. of Sir William Button of Parkgate, Tawstock, Devon. unm. suc. fa. 1677.1
Offices Held
Freeman, Plymouth 1684; mayor, Plympton Erle 1684–5.2
Biography
The heir to an indebted estate, Strode struggled, mostly in vain, to establish a parliamentary career in opposition to the established interest of Sir George Treby* at Plympton Erle. Having enjoyed a shortlived triumph in 1685, when he was elected under a remodelled charter granted by James II, he lost his seat at the Revolution. In 1690 he was returned for Plympton by his friend John Avent, who was acting as mayor under the now-defunct charter, but the House swiftly declared the election void. During his month as an MP he was classed by Lord Carmarthen (Sir Thomas Osborne†) as Tory; it was also alleged by the Whigs in Plympton that he was a Jacobite. He refused the Association in 1696 and in consequence was removed from the commission of the peace. Strode was also involved in a long and abortive campaign to reclaim part of his father’s estate near Plymouth fort. His financial difficulties were so acute that by early 1697 he was a prisoner for debt in the Fleet. On 13 Jan. it was stated in evidence given to the Commons that he had been involved in the counterfeiting of about 60 guineas and that he had planned to use his house in Devon as a base for purchasing more gold from the ‘East India and Guinea Fleets’ in order to ‘coin it into guineas or other foreign coins’. No prosecution ensued, however. He stood unsuccessfully for Plympton in 1702 and 1705. He died intestate in 1707 at his London lodgings in Chichester Rents. Administration of his personal estate, valued at about £300, was given to his sister on 5 Sept.3