STRAFFORD, THOMAS WENTWORTH, EARL OF, English statesman, born in London, of an old Yorkshire family; studied at Cambridge; after some months’ travel on the Continent entered Parliament in 1614, but took no active part in affairs till 1621; he took sides at first with the party for freedom, but in 1622 felt compelled to side with the king, to his elevation of greater and greater influence as his counsellor; his policy, named “Thorough,” was to establish a strong Government with the king at the head, and to put down with a strong hand all opposition to the royal authority; appointed Lord-Deputy in Ireland in 1633, he did all he could to increase the royal resources, and was at length, in 1640, exalted to the Lord-Lieutenancy, being at the same time created Earl of Strafford; he had risen by this time to be the chief adviser of the king, and was held responsible for his arbitrary policy; after the meeting of the Long Parliament he was impeached for high treason; the impeachment seemed likely to fail, when a Bill of Attainder was produced; to this the king refused his assent, but he had to yield to the excitement his refusal produced, and as the result Strafford was beheaded on Tower Hill (1593-1641).

STRAITS SETTLEMENTS (507, of which 150 are Chinese), British colony in the East Indies, embracing the British possessions in the Malay Peninsula (on the Strait of Malacca), Singapore, Malacca, Penang, and the Keeling Islands and Christmas Island; were under the jurisdiction of the Governor-General of India till 1867, in which year they passed under the control of the Colonial Office at home.

STRALSUND (28), a fortified seaport of North Prussia, on Strela Sound, opposite the island of Ruegen, in the Baltic, and 66 m.  NW. of Stettin, forms of itself an islet, and is connected with the mainland (Pomerania) by bridges; is a quaint old town, dating back to the 13th century; figures often in the wars of Prussia, and is now a place of considerable commercial importance.

STRANGFORD, PERCY C. S. SMYTHE, VISCOUNT, diplomatist; graduated at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1800; entered the diplomatic service, and in the following year succeeded to the title; was ambassador to Portugal, Sweden, Turkey, and Russia; translated the “Rimas” of Camoens, and was raised to the peerage (1825) as Baron Penshurst (1780-1855).

STRANGFORD, PERCY E. F. W. SMYTHE, son of preceding, diplomatist and noted philologist, born at St. Petersburg; passed through Harrow and Oxford; entered the diplomatic service; became attache at Constantinople, and during the Crimean War served as Oriental Secretary, acquiring the while a profound grip of the Eastern Question, and an unrivalled knowledge of European and Asiatic languages—­Turkish, Persian, Arabic, Slavonic, Afghan, Basque, &c.; succeeded to the title in 1855, and henceforth resided chiefly in London; was President of the Asiatic Society, and was considered by Freeman “our greatest English philologist”; author of various articles on political, geographical, and philological subjects (1825-1869).