The English Catholic gentry formed a small, tight-knit group, including the Stricklands, a family based in Westmoreland and Catterick, North Yorkshire. It is suggested John spent time at the exile court in Rome, and served as head of household for Henry Stuart in 1743. There he would have met Francis Strickland (1691-1746), a long-time resident in Rome and one of the Seven Men of Moidart who accompanied Prince Charles to Scotland in 1745.
