John Strange (English politician)

Sir John Strange PC KC (1696 – 18 May 1754) was a British politician and judge.

The Right Honourable Sir John Strange
Master of the Rolls
In office 11 January 1750 – 18 May 1754
Nominated by	Lord Hardwicke
Preceded by	Sir William Fortescue
Succeeded by	Sir Thomas Clarke
Solicitor General for England and Wales
In office 28 January 1737 – December 1742
Nominated by	Lord Hardwicke
Preceded by	Sir Dudley Ryder
Succeeded by	Sir William Murray
Personal details
Born	1696
Died	18 May 1754(1754-05-18) (aged 57–58)
Nationality	British
Children	2 sons & 9 daughters
Residence	Leyton Grange
Profession	Barrister, judge, politician

John Strange's life

He was born to another John Strange of Fleet Street, London and his second wife, Mary Plaistowe. He studied Law at the Middle Temple on 11 July 1712 before starting a pupillage at the chambers of Charles Salkeld, who trained (among others) Lord Hardwicke.^[1] He was called to the Bar on 27 October 1718.^[2]

In 1735 he bought the lease of Leyton Grange House in Leyton, then in Essex. In 1725 he represented Lord Macclesfield at his impeachment,^[1] and he was made a King's Counsel on 9 February 1736. The same year, he became a Bencher of Middle Temple.^[2]

He was appointed Solicitor General for England and Wales on 28 January 1737, and was made a Member of Parliament for West Looe to allow him to take his position.^[1] After the death of the Master of the Rolls Joseph Jekyll on 19 August 1738, Strange was invited to succeed him, but declined the offer.^[2] He became Recorder of London in November 1739, and on 12 May 1740 he was knighted, along with Dudley Ryder, the Attorney General for England and Wales.^[3] He resigned as Member of Parliament for West Looe in 1741, but was reelected for Totnes in a by-election in 1742.

In December 1742 he resigned as Recorder of London and Solicitor General, claiming ill-health, and also limited his practice as a barrister to the Court of King's Bench.^[1] In 1750 Lord Hardwicke convinced him to become Master of the Rolls, and he took his position on 11 January. On 17 March he was made a Privy Councillor. He served as master of the Rolls for four years until his death on 18 May 1754. After his death, his son John Strange, who had inherited (and sold) Grange House, published his father's court reports.^[1] Sir John Strange was buried at Leyton and commemorated by monuments in both the churchyard and the church of St Mary the Virgin.^[4] The inscriptions were published in 1796^[5] and again in 1892,^[6] debunking persistent claims that Sir John's grave was marked by a ridiculous epitaph in the Rolls Chapel:

Here lies an honest lawyer,
and that is Strange.^[7][8]

Family

On 14 May 1722 he married Susannah Strong, eldest daughter of Edward Strong the Younger sculptor and mason of St Paul's Cathedral.^[9] They had two sons and nine daughters. This included John Strange.

References

1. Foss (1870) p.636
2. Hanham, A. A. (2004). "Oxford DNB article: Strange, Sir John (subscription needed)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26635. Retrieved 7 June 2009. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
3. "No. 7909". The London Gazette. 10 May 1740. p. 2.
4. Bingham, David (10 May 2018). "The London Dead: The Tombstones of Old Leyton: St Mary the Virgin churchyard, Leyton". The London Dead. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
5. Lysons, Daniel (1796). The environs of London: being an historical account of the towns, villages, and hamlets, within twelve miles of that capital interspersed with biographical anecdotes. Internet Archive from University of California Libraries (vol. 4 ed.). London : printed by A. Strahan for T. Cadell. pp. 168–169, footnote 58.
6. Page, John T. (1892). "Sir John Strange". Notes and Queries. 1 (8): 450–451 – via Internet Archive.
7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
8. Epitaphiana: or, The curiosities of churchyard literature, being a miscellaneous collection of epitaphs with an introduction giving an account of various customs prevailing amongst the ancients and moderns in the disposal of their dead (1875) 262 (p132)
9. Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1859 by Rupert Gunnis

Bibliography

• Foss, Edward (1870). A Biographical Dictionary of the Justices of England (1066 - 1870). Spottiswoode and Company.
• White, William (1892). Notes and queries. Oxford University Press.

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by John Owen John Willes	Member of Parliament for West Looe 1737–1741 With: John Owen	Succeeded by Charles Wager Benjamin Keene
Preceded by Charles Wills Sir Joseph Danvers	Member of Parliament for Totnes 1742–1754 With: Sir Joseph Danvers 1742–1747 Charles Taylor 1747–1754 Browse Trist 1754	Succeeded by Browse Trist Richard Lloyd
Legal offices
Preceded by Sir Dudley Ryder	Solicitor General for England and Wales 28 January 1737 – December 1742	Succeeded by Sir William Murray
Preceded by Sir William Fortescue	Master of the Rolls 11 January 1750 – 18 May 1754	Succeeded by Sir Thomas Clarke