George Byng, 2nd Earl of Strafford
The Earl of Strafford | |
---|---|
Comptroller of the Household | |
In office 6 May 1835 – 23 June 1841 | |
Monarchs | William IV Victoria |
Prime Minister | The Viscount Melbourne |
Preceded by | Hon. Henry Lowry-Corry |
Succeeded by | Lord Marcus Hill |
Treasurer of the Household | |
In office 23 June 1841 – 30 August 1841 | |
Monarch | Victoria |
Prime Minister | The Viscount Melbourne |
Preceded by | Earl of Surrey |
Succeeded by | Earl Jermyn |
Personal details | |
Born | 8 June 1806 |
Died | 29 October 1886 | (aged 80)
Nationality | British |
Political party | Whig |
Spouse(s) | (1) Lady Agnes Paget (c. 1809–1845) (2) Hon. Harriett Cavendish (d. 1892) |
Alma mater | Royal Military Academy Sandhurst |
![](http://178.128.105.246/cars-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Arms_of_Byng%2C_Earl_of_Strafford.svg/220px-Arms_of_Byng%2C_Earl_of_Strafford.svg.png)
George Stevens Byng, 2nd Earl of Strafford, PC (8 June 1806 – 29 October 1886), styled Viscount Enfield between 1847 and 1860, of Wrotham Park in Middlesex (now Hertfordshire) and of 5 St James's Square, London, was a British peer and Whig politician.
Origins
[edit]Byng was the eldest son of Field Marshal John Byng, 1st Earl of Strafford (1772–1860) by his first wife, Mary Mackenzie.[1]
Military career
[edit]In 1822, after graduating from the Royal Military College, Byng joined the 29th Regiment of Foot as an ensign by purchase. In 1825 he transferred to the 85th Regiment of Foot as a lieutenant and was promoted to captain in 1826,[citation needed] in which rank he served in the 60th Rifles. In 1837, after he had begun his political career, he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the part-time Royal West Middlesex Militia.[2] On the death of the regiment's colonel in 1844 Byng succeeded to the command. His eldest son, the Hon George Byng, was commissioned as his lt-col on 30 October 1853. He retired from the command and became the regiment's Honorary Colonel on 5 December 1859.[3]
Political career
[edit]Byng's political career began in 1830 when he was elected as a Member of Parliament for Milborne Port,[4] a seat he briefly held before taking the post of Comptroller of the Household to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland (his father-in-law, Lord Anglesey), less than a year later.[citation needed] When his former co-MP, William Sturges-Bourne resigned his seat a few weeks later, Byng returned to his former seat and held it until the Great Reform Bill of 1832 abolished the constituency.[4] From 1834 he was MP for the new constituency of Chatham, a seat he held until 1835 and again from 1837 to 1852.[5] He served under Lord Melbourne as a Lord of the Treasury between June and November 1834.
According to the Legacies of British Slave-Ownership at the University College London, Strafford made an unsuccessful claim for compensation in the aftermath of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 with the Slave Compensation Act 1837.[6]
Between 1836 and 1837 he represented Poole in parliament.[7] He again served under Lord Melbourne as Comptroller of the Household between 1835[8] and 1841[9] and as Treasurer of the Household between June[9] and August 1841[10] and was sworn of the Privy Council in 1835.[11] When Lord John Russell became Prime Minister in 1846, Byng was appointed Joint Secretary to the Board of Control, a post he retained until 1847.
After losing his parliamentary seat in 1852, Byng was summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration in his father's barony of Strafford a year later[12] and inherited his father's earldom in 1860.
Marriages and progeny
[edit]Byng married twice:
- Firstly on 7 March 1829 to Lady Agnes Paget (d. October 1845), a daughter of Field Marshal Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, by whom he had six children:
- George Byng, 3rd Earl of Strafford (22 Feb 1830 – 28 Mar 1898), eldest son and heir. Died without surviving male progeny.
- Henry Byng, 4th Earl of Strafford (21 Aug 1831 – 16 May 1899), 2nd son, who succeeded his elder brother in the titles. Died without surviving male progeny.
- Lady Agnes Mary Georgiana Byng (29 Oct 1833 – 7 Apr 1878), who married Hedworth Jolliffe, 2nd Baron Hylton.
- Francis Edmund Cecil Byng, 5th Earl of Strafford (1835–1918), 3rd son, who succeeded his elder brother in the titles.
- Lady Mary Caroline Charlotte Byng (1838–1933), who married the barrister Richard Arkwright.
- Lady Victoria Alexandrina Anna Maria Byng (11 Mar 1842 – 1899), who married Arthur Fuller.
- Secondly in 1848 he married the Hon. Harriett Cavendish, a daughter of Charles Cavendish, 1st Baron Chesham, by whom he had a further seven children:
- Hon. Charles Cavendish George Byng (1849–1918).
- Hon. Alfred John George Byng (1851–1887).
- Lady Susan Catherine Harriet Byng (19 Mar 1854 – 1936), who married Thomas Trueman.
- Lady Elizabeth Henrietta Alice Byng (31 Dec 1855 – 1920).
- Hon. Lionel Francis George Byng (1858–1915), who in 1902 married Lady Eleanor Mabel Howard (1873–1945), a daughter of the Henry Howard, 18th Earl of Suffolk, by whom he had issue.
- Lady Margaret Florence Lucy Byng (6 Nov 1860 – 1945), who married Hon. John Richard Boscawen.
- Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy (1862–1935).
Death
[edit]Lord Strafford died in October 1886, aged 80, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son, George. The Countess of Strafford died in June 1892.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b thepeerage.com George Stevens Byng, 2nd Earl of Strafford
- ^ London Gazette, 5 January 1838.
- ^ Lt-Col H.G. Hart, The New Annual Army List, and Militia List (various dates from 1840).
- ^ a b "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Mayo to Minehead". Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Carmarthen East and Dinefwr to Chesterton". Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "George Stevens Byng, 2nd Earl of Strafford". University College London. Retrieved on 20 March 2019.
- ^ "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Plymouth to Putney". Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "No. 19274". The London Gazette. 29 May 1835. p. 1024.
- ^ a b "No. 19994". The London Gazette. 29 June 1841. p. 1683.
- ^ "No. 20017". The London Gazette. 10 September 1841. p. 2273.
- ^ "No. 19274". The London Gazette. 29 May 1835. p. 1023.
- ^ "No. 21429". The London Gazette. 8 April 1853. p. 1028.
External links
[edit]- 1806 births
- 1886 deaths
- Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
- UK MPs 1830–1831
- UK MPs 1831–1832
- UK MPs 1832–1835
- UK MPs 1835–1837
- UK MPs 1837–1841
- UK MPs 1841–1847
- UK MPs 1847–1852
- UK MPs who inherited peerages
- 29th Regiment of Foot officers
- Middlesex Militia officers
- Worcestershire Regiment officers
- Treasurers of the Household
- Fellows of the Royal Society
- Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst
- Byng family