Thomas de Strickland

Sir Thomas de Strickland (also Stryckeland; 1367 – 30 July 1455) was an English soldier. He is best known for carrying the banner of St. George at the battle of Agincourt.

At war Biography On 21 July 1403, de Strickland fought on the Royalist side at the Battle of Shrewsbury for Henry IV and was awarded by the King, a sum of £38 and two horses which had belonged to the rebel Henry Percy (Hotspur). He was also rewarded for his valiant efforts by being made Keeper of Inglewood royal forest in Cumberland.

He was elected one of the knights of the shire (to represent Westmorland in the Parliament of England) in 1404, 1429, and 1431.

Walter (1411-1466), married Douce Croft. Margaret Cecilia Robert

Strickland had been knighted by 1418, not long after the Battle of Agincourt. After that time it became common practice amongst noble families to drop the English "of" and the French "de" from their names, so Sir Thomas de (or of) Strickland became Sir Thomas Strickland.

Later Stricklands Thomas' son Walter Strickland (described in 1452 as an 'esquire') was an indentured retainer of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, and his 1452 indenture survives. He contracts to support the Earl of Salisbury with "bowmen horsed and harnessed, 69; billmen horsed and harnessed, 74; bowmen without horses, 71; billmen without horses, 76". (The term 'harnessed' refers to armour, not a horse harness.) During his father's lifetime he carried his father's banner of sable three escallops argent, but differenced by the overlay of a label of three points or.

Succeeding his father as Sir Walter, he is known to have fought for the Yorkists at 1st St Alban's in 1455 and Blore Heath in 1459. He married Douce Croft.

Sir Thomas Strickland was Walter's eldest son and he married Agnes Parr and later Margaret, widow of Sir John Byron. He also fought on the Yorkist side at Barnet (1471), where he was knighted by Edward IV, as well as fighting at Bosworth in 1485 for Richard III. He survived the battle and died in 1494.