William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford

For other men with this name, see William Wentworth (disambiguation).

William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford (8 June, 1626–16 October, 1695) was a member of the United Kingdom's House of Lords. He was a son of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford and his second wife Arabella Holles. When his father, Thomas, was executed in 1641, William left the Kingdom of England for several years. In 1652 he was allowed to return on taking an oath of abjuration. In 1662, the bill of attainder against his father was reversed by Parliament, and he regained the title of Earl of Strafford. On 27 February, 1654, Strafford married Lady Henriette Mary Stanley. She was a daughter of James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby and Charlotte Stanley, Countess of Derby. The marriage was childless. Henriette predeceased him on 27 December, 1685 but Strafford did not take a second wife. When he died, childless, on October 16, 1695 the peerage became extinct. His estates passed to his nephew Lewis Watson, 1st Earl of Rockingham (see Marquess of Rockingham for the line of succession). Strafford County, New Hampshire in the United States is named in his honor.