Henry Fox-Strangways, 5th Earl of Ilchester explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Right Honourable
The Earl of Ilchester
Honorific-Suffix:PC
Order1:Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms
Term Start1:1 January 1874
Term End1:17 February 1874
Monarch1:Victoria
Primeminister1:William Ewart Gladstone
Predecessor1:The Earl Cowper
Successor1:The Marquess of Exeter
Birth Date:13 February 1847
Nationality:British
Party:Liberal
Spouse:Lady Mary Dawson
(d. 1935)
Children:3
Father:John Fox-Strangways

Henry Edward Fox-Strangways, 5th Earl of Ilchester PC (13 February 1847 – 6 December 1905), known as Henry Fox-Strangways until 1865, was a British peer and Liberal politician. He served as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms under William Ewart Gladstone between January and February 1874.

Early life and education

Lord Ilchester was the son of Hon John Fox-Strangways, fourth son of Henry Thomas Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester. His mother was Amelia Marjoribanks, daughter of Edward Marjoribanks. He was educated at Eton College.[1] Lord Ilchester succeeded his uncle, William Fox-Strangways, 4th Earl of Ilchester, in the earldom of Ilchester in 1865 and was able to take his seat in the House of Lords on his 21st birthday in 1868.

In 1874 he acquired the Holland House estate in London from the estate of his distant cousin Henry Fox, 4th and last Baron Holland who died in 1859.

Career

In January 1874, at the age of only 26, Ilchester was appointed Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms in the Liberal administration of William Ewart Gladstone, a post he held until the government fell the following month. He was admitted to the Privy Council in February of that year.

Lord Ilchester never held political office again but served as Lord Lieutenant of Dorset from 1885 to 1905.[1]

Marriage and children

In 1872 Lord Ilchester married Lady Mary Eleanor Anne Dawson (died 1935), a daughter of Richard Dawson, 1st Earl of Dartrey, with whom he had three children:[2]

Death and burial

He died in December 1905, aged 58, and was buried in the family vault at Melbury Osmond, Dorset. He was succeeded in his titles by his elder son Giles.[1]

Arms

The arms of the head of the Fox-Strangways family are blazoned Quarterly of four: 1st & 4th: Sable, two lions passant paly of six argent and gules (Strangways); 2nd & 3rd: Ermine, on a chevron azure three foxes' heads and necks erased or on a canton of the second a fleur-de-lys of the third (Fox).[3]

Notes and References

  1. http://www.thepeerage.com/p6005.htm thepeerage.com Henry Edward Fox-Strangways, 5th Earl of Ilchester
  2. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003
  3. "Earl of Ilchester" in Montague-Smith, P.W. (ed.), Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage (Kelly's Directories Ltd, Kingston-upon-Thames, 1968), p. 607