Sir Edward Strachey, 3rd Baronet

Sir Edward Strachey, 3rd Baronet (1812–1901) was an English man of letters.

Born at Sutton Court, Chew Magna, Somerset, on 12 August 1812, he was eldest of the six sons of Edward Strachey (1774–1832) of the Bengal service of the East India Company, son of Sir Henry Strachey, 1st Baronet, and his wife Julia Woodburn, third daughter of Major-general William Kirkpatrick. His five brothers were: Sir Henry Strachey (1816–1912) of the Bengal army; Sir Richard Strachey; William Strachey (1819–1904), of the colonial office; Sir John Strachey; and George Strachey who was minister at the court of Saxony. Destined for the East India Company's service, he was educated at Haileybury, but when about to sail for India suffered from inflammation of the knee-joint, which forced him to use crutches for more than twenty years.

In 1836, attracted by Subscription no Bondage by F. D. Maurice, Strachey obtained an introduction through John Sterling, a friend of his mother; and asked to be allowed to read with Maurice for university entrance. His affliction forced him to give up the plan, but he spent the second half of the year with Maurice at Guy's Hospital. Maurice became his spiritual adviser.

In 1858 Strachey succeeded to the title and Somerset estates of his uncle, Sir Henry Strachey, 2nd Baronet, who had died unmarried. He was a concerned landlord, an active magistrate and a deputy-lieutenant, and in 1864 was High Sheriff of Somerset; he was also a poor-law guardian and a member of the first Somerset county council. A Liberal in politics, he was an admirer of William Ewart Gladstone. As a disciple of Maurice he was an Anglican, but opposed to the High Church doctrines, and interested in biblical criticism.

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