‘There is not a Minister on this Side, that knows any Thing I either write or intend, excepting the Master of the Rolls and Sir George Radcliffe’: Wentworth’s reliance on his cabal in the Irish Parliaments of Charles I’s reign

Sir Thomas Wentworth (later earl of Strafford) was appointed lord deputy of Ireland in 1632. Whilst in Ireland, he held two parliaments and was reliant on his close associates to help him plan, manage and control the sessions. The key members of his cabal, Christopher Wandesford, the master of the rolls and Sir George Radcliffe, had a long relationship with Wentworth and had attended English parliaments in the 1620s. The importance of this relationship was noted by Wentworth when he wrote to the earl of Portland from Ireland stating that ‘there is not a Minister on this Side, that knows any Thing I either write or intend, excepting the Master of the Rolls and Sir George Radcliffe.’

In the Irish Parliament of 1634–35, Wentworth relied heavily upon his associates to generate and maintain support for governmental policy. They acted as conduits of information to Wentworth, assessing the mood of the House, acting as controllers of debate and reporting back to the lord deputy on discussions within committees. However, despite outward appearances that the Parliament of 1634–35 had been a success, the 1640 sessions of the 1640–49 Parliament were much more difficult to control. Wentworth had been recalled to England to support the King, and in his absence, his associates struggled to maintain the government’s initiative over parliament. 

Wandesford and Radcliffe’s Irish parliamentary careers provide an insight into how Wentworth used his cabal to support his policies. This appeared successful whilst Wentworth’s government was strong, but, in Wentworth’s absence, they were unable to control parliament, contributing to the collapse of the administration.  

Dr Charlotte Brownhill is a lecturer at The Open University. She completed her PhD entitled 'The personal and professional relationships between Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford and his closest advisors' at the University of Sheffield in 2004. After completing a teaching certificate and teaching in various institutions over the past twenty years, she has returned to her research which focuses on Wentworth and his advisors during the 1620s and 1630s. She has written an article for Parliamentary History (forthcoming, 2024) which explores Sir George Radcliffe’s role within Wentworth’s administration and is currently working on the master of the rolls, Christopher Wandesford’s contribution to Wentworth’s Irish government. 

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