William Strahan (publisher)

He married Margaret Penelope Elphinstone, daughter of Edinburgh Episcopal Clergyman William Elphnstone, at St Mary Le Bow on 20 July 1738.

For many years, Strahan attended debates in Parliament and wrote reports of the proceedings that were widely circulated; his paragraphs of political news were frequently printed in The Pennsylvania Gazette, and he became a friend of its owner, Benjamin Franklin.

At first he sympathised with the grievances of the American colonists, disapproving of the Stamp Act and publishing arguments in favour of a reconciliation in his London Chronicle.

[6] In 1774, Strahan purchased a seat as MP for the Wiltshire borough of Malmesbury, sitting as a supporter of Lord North's Tory administration.

[7] The original painting of Strahan by Reynolds is located at the National Portrait Gallery in London where it is part of the permanent collection.