(1729 - 1808), o. s. of Sir William Strickland of Boynton, Yorks; suc. fa. 1735 as 5th Bt.; m. 1751 Elisabeth Winn (d. 1813).
1778 - 9 Genoa (Nov. 1778), Lerici, Naples (Jan. - 13 Feb. 1779), Paestum (14 - 15 Feb.), Rome ( - Apr.)
Sir George travelled in Italy with his wife and two daughters (one was Elizabeth, who m. 1781 her cos., Strickland Freeman, and d. 1821). They were in Genoa in November 1778, and sailed to Lerici with the Crawfurds early in December.1 They were in Naples in January 1779 and visited Paestum with Freeman and John Soane in February.2 They left Rome early in April 1779,3 having bought an inlaid marble table from James Byres and numerous other objects from Thomas Jenkins. Strickland's correspondence concerning these acquisitions survives,4 together with the bills relating to their dispatch to Yorkshire - probably 'one of the most complete records of its kind' (RBF).
The archive includes a receipt signed by Francesco Piranesi for prints of statues and the Antichita di Pesto (by his father G.B. Piranesi), and there is a signed receipt from Carlo Labruzzi for five pictures and four drawings. Strickland's marbles included a Juno, found in 1777 at the Tor Tre Teste, a head of Brutus (acquired subsequently from Jenkins in 1782), and a vase from the Villa Mattei.5 A number of pastes and sulphurs were bought from Alessandro Cades (whose shop was in the Piazza di Spagna). A drawing of Cardinal Casali's mosaic pavement was used by Lady Strickland and her daughters as a carpet pattern; shell bracelets and vellum ('skins') to draw on were bought for the young ladies. Jenkins's letters date from 1779 to 1782 and are not free from self-advertisement. There is further correspondence between Sir George and Charles Townley concerning the mistaken delivery to Boynton Hall of some of Townley's marble statues.
1. Genoa, cons.corr.MSS (28 Nov., 5 Dec. 1778). 2. Childe-Pemberton, 1:228. Note from P. du Prey. 3. Byres letters MSS y (17 Apr. 1779). 4. Priv. coll. (notes by RBF). 5. Michaelis, 103, 216.