MARK OF JOHN EDWARDS II, LONDON, 1729

The present dish was gifted by George II to Sir William Strickland (circa 1686-1735), 4th Baronet of Boynton, co. York, on the occasion of his son, George’s, christening in March 1729. Sir William was first son of Sir William Strickland, 3rd Baronet of Boynton, and his wife Elizabeth Palmes. Upon his father’s death in 1724 he succeeded to Baronet and shortly after became a Lord of the Treasury and Treasurer of the Queen’s Household. A great friend of Sir Robert Walpole, Strickland was chosen to replace Henry Pelham as Secretary at War in 1730, and was made a Privy Counsellor, a position he held until his health forced him to retire in 1735. On 9 March 1723 he married Catherine, daughter of Sir. Jeremy Sandbrook, of Gobions, co. Herford.
Strickland inherited Boynton Hall, near Scarborough, from his father in 1724. He commissioned Lord Burlington to redesign the frontage and William Kent the interiors. This ambitious and costly renovation proved considerably disappointing to Strickland, who returned from London to find that the local builders hired to execute Lord Burlington’s plans had deviated from his instruction. Strickland found the refurbishment to be terribly old-fashioned and not the grand, fashionable Palladian hall he had envisioned and anticipated finding upon his return.