Guilford Slingsby (1610–1643) was a member of the Yorkshire gentry who was confidential secretary to Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, and present during the trial which ended in his execution in April 1641. Slingsby sat in the Parliament of Ireland as Member of Parliament for Carysfort from 1634 to 1635, and during Strafford's period as Lord Deputy of Ireland was appointed to several administrative posts. When the First English Civil War began in August 1642, he raised a regiment for the Royalist army in Northern England; he was badly wounded in a skirmish near Guisborough on 16 January 1643 and died three days later. Personal details Guilford Slingsby was born in 1610, eldest son of Sir Guylford Sligsby, (1565-1631) and Margaret Walter (died after 1650). His grandmother was Mary Percy, sister of the Percy Earl of Northumberland, traditionally one of the most powerful families in Northern England. The Slingsbys were a large family distributed throughout North Yorkshire; his father was one of eight surviving sons, while Guilford was the eldest of twelve. His siblings included Robert (1611-1661), Walter (died after 1650), Arthur (1623-1666), Dorothy, Margaret, Mary and Anne. Career Slingsby grew up at Bifrons in Kent, where his father, who was Comptroller of the Navy from 1611 to 1631, purchased an estate; he was educated at the University of St Andrews, before spending a few years at University of Oxford. His uncle Sir Francis Slingsby (1559-1651) served in the Nine Years' War in Ireland and married an heiress; he was a member of the Munster Council where he held extensive lands. It may have been this connection that led to his election as Member of Parliament for Carysfort in 1634. The first Irish Parliament since 1615, it had been summoned by the Earl of Strafford, newly appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland; shortly afterwards, Slingsby became his personal secretary. It is possible he was recommended by his relative Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland, one of Strafford's closest friends. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography states Slingsby was appointed to the Irish Board of Ordnance and Vice-admiral of Munster; the latter position was held by Strafford, so he may have acted as his deputy. Nevertheless, it was an important position, as Munster in particular was an attractive target for pirates and thus required greater supervision than other areas. When Strafford was impeached by the Parliament of England in 1640, Slingsby