office till 1340 (Maxwell-Lyte, Hist. Univ. Oxford, p. 170). He had resigned the chancellorship of the exchequer on 22 Oct. 1334, and when John de Stratford became chancellor for the second time in June 1335, Robert once more became his lieutenant. Probably he continued to act in this capacity till 24 March 1337, when he was himself made chancellor.
In August 1337 Robert de Stratford was elected bishop of Chichester; the royal assent was given on 24 Aug., the temporalities were restored on 21 Sept. (Cal. Pat. Rolls, Edward III, iii. 494, 520), and he was consecrated by John Stratford at Canterbury on 30 Nov. (Stubbs, Reg. Sacr. Angl. p. 54). On 6 July 1338 he was allowed to resign the chancellorship, but again accepted office on his brother's final resignation on 20 June 1340. In September he accompanied the king to Flanders, and was with him for a time in the camp before Tournay. He came back to England before the king, and when Edward suddenly returned to England was one of the officials who were dismissed from office on 1 Dec. He escaped from threatened imprisonment out of regard to his position as a bishop, and does not seem to have been included in the proceedings against his brother. He was present in his place in parliament during the stormy session in April–May 1341, when John de Stratford asserted his position (Anglia Sacra, i. 20, 38–9). Robert de Stratford no doubt recovered the king's favour at the same time as his brother. In May 1343 he was sent on a mission to the pope (Fœdera, ii. 1223), and in July 1345 was one of the council during the king's absence (ib. iii. 50). He died at Aldingbourne on 9 April 1362 (Anglia Sacra, i. 45), and was buried in Chichester Cathedral. He was an honest if not brilliant administrator, like his brother, to whom no doubt he chiefly owed his advancement. He was a benefactor of his native town, where he procured a grant of a toll for paving the streets in 1332, which was renewed in 1335 and 1337.
[Murimuth's Chron. (Rolls Ser.); Wharton's Anglia Sacra; Rolls of Parliament; Lee's Stratford-on-Avon, pp. 34–5; Foss's Judges of England; authorities quoted.]
STRATFORD, WILLIAM SAMUEL (1790–1853), lieutenant R.N. and astronomer, born 31 May 1790, entered the navy in February 1806 on board the Pompée, flagship first of Sir William Sidney Smith [q. v.] and afterwards of Vice-admiral Stanhope, and was in her at the defence of Gaeta, the reduction of Capri, the passage of the Dardanelles, the destruction of a Turkish squadron off Point Pesquies, and later in the bombardment of Copenhagen. In March 1808 he was again with Smith in the Foudroyant. From 1809 to 1815 he was serving in the North Sea, and on 14 March 1815 was promoted to be lieutenant. On the reduction consequent on the peace he was placed on half-pay and had no further service afloat. He devoted himself to the study of astronomy, and on the foundation of the Astronomical Society in 1820 was appointed its first secretary. On 11 April 1827 he received the silver medal of the society for his co-operation with Francis Baily [q. v.] in the compilation of a catalogue of 2,881 fixed stars, printed as an appendix to vol. ii. of the ‘Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society.’ On 22 April 1831 he was appointed superintendent of the ‘Nautical Almanac,’ and on 7 June 1832 he was elected F.R.S. He died on 29 March 1853. He was married and left issue.
Besides various shorter papers read before, or published by, the Astronomical Society (Monthly Notices, ii. 167, xi. 222, &c.), he was the author of: 1. ‘An Index to the Stars in the Catalogue of the Royal Astronomical Society,’ presented to the society on 13 May 1831. 2. ‘On the Elements of the Orbit of Halley's Comet at its appearance in the years 1835–6,’ 1835, London, 8vo. 3. ‘Supplement to the Nautical Almanac of 1837, containing the Meridian Ephemeris of the Sun and Planets,’ 1836, London, 8vo. 4. ‘Ephemeris of Encke's Comet, 1838,’ 1838, London, 8vo. 5. ‘Ephemeris of Encke's Comet, 1839,’ 1838, London, 8vo. 6. ‘Path of the Moon's Shadow over the Southern Part of France, the North of Italy, and Part of Germany, during the total Eclipse of the Sun on 7 July 1842’ (R.A.S. Monthly Notices, v. 173). 7. ‘Ephemeris of Faye's Comet’ (‘Astr. Nachr.’ xxxi. 1851).
[O'Byrne's Nav. Biogr. Dict.; Gent. Mag. 1853, i. 656; Royal Society's Cat. Scient. Papers; R.A.S. Monthly Notices, &c.]
STRATFORD de REDCLIFFE, first Viscount. [See Canning, Stratford, 1786-1880.]
STRATHALLAN, Viscounts of. [See Drummond, William, first viscount, 1617?-1688; Drummond, William, fourth viscount, 1690-1746.]
STRATHEARN, Duke of. [See Henry Frederick, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn, 1745-1790.]
STRATHEARN, MALISE, sixth Earl of (fl. 1281–1315), was descended from a supposed Celtic family of whom Malise, earl
