Earl of Ilchester
Encyclopedia
Peerage of Great Britain
The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain after the Act of Union 1707 but before the Act of Union 1800...
. It was created in 1756 for Stephen Fox, 1st Baron Ilchester
Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of Ilchester
Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of Ilchester PC was a British peer and Member of Parliament.Ilchester was the son of Sir Stephen Fox and his second wife Christiana Hope. Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, was his younger brother and Charles James Fox his nephew...
, who had previously represented Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury (UK Parliament constituency)
Shaftesbury was a parliamentary constituency in Dorset. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1295 until 1832 and one member until the constituency was abolished in 1885....
in Parliament. He had already been created Baron Ilchester, of Ilchester in the County of Somerset in 1741, and Baron Ilchester and Stavordale, of Redlynch, in the County of Somerset, in 1747. These titles were also in the Peerage of Great Britain
Peerage of Great Britain
The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain after the Act of Union 1707 but before the Act of Union 1800...
. All three peerages were created with remainder, failing heirs male of his own, to his younger brother Henry Fox
Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland
Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, of Foxley, MP, PC was a leading British politician of the 18th century. He identified primarily with the Whig faction...
, who was himself created Baron Holland
Baron Holland
Baron Holland, of Holland in the County of Lincoln, and Baron Holland, of Foxley in the County of Wiltshire, were two titles in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first barony was created on 7 March 1762 for Lady Caroline Fox, the daughter of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond and the eldest of...
in 1763. The brothers were the only sons from the second marriage of the politician Sir Stephen Fox
Stephen Fox
Sir Stephen Fox was an English politician.-Life:Stephen Fox was the son of William Fox, of Farley, in Wiltshire, a yeoman farmer...
.
In 1758 the first Earl assumed by Royal license the additional surname of Strangways, which was the maiden name of his wife's maternal grandmother. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Earl. He represented Midhurst
Midhurst (UK Parliament constituency)
Midhurst was a parliamentary borough in Sussex, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1311 until 1832, and then one member from 1832 until 1885, when the constituency was abolished...
in Parliament. His eldest son, the third Earl, served as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard
The Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard is a UK government post usually held by the Government Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Lords...
from 1835 to 1841 in the Whig administration
Whig Government 1835-1841
Lord Melbourne's second government came to power after Sir Robert Peel's minority government resigned in 1835. Lord Palmerston returned as Foreign Secretary while Lord John Russell held his first major office as Home Secretary....
of Lord Melbourne
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, PC, FRS was a British Whig statesman who served as Home Secretary and Prime Minister . He is best known for his intense and successful mentoring of Queen Victoria, at ages 18-21, in the ways of politics...
and was also Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
This is an incomplete list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Somerset. Since 1714, all Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Somerset.-Lord Lieutenants of Somerset:*John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford 1552–1555...
from 1837 to 1839. Lord Ilchester survived both his sons and was succeeded by his half-brother, the fourth Earl. He was Ambassador to the German Confederation
German Confederation
The German Confederation was the loose association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to coordinate the economies of separate German-speaking countries. It acted as a buffer between the powerful states of Austria and Prussia...
from 1840 to 1849. His nephew, the fifth Earl, was Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms
Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms
The Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms is a UK government post since 1945 held by the Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords. Prior to 17 March 1834, the Gentlemen-at-Arms were known as the Honourable Band of Gentlemen Pensioners....
from 1873 to 1874 in the Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
government
Liberal Government 1868-1874
The Conservative government under Benjamin Disraeli had been defeated at the General Election, so in December 1868 the victorious William Gladstone formed his first government. He introduced reforms in the Army , the legal system and the Civil Service, and disestablished the Church of Ireland...
of William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
and also served as Lord Lieutenant of Dorset
Lord Lieutenant of Dorset
The Office of the Lord Lieutenant was created during the reign of Henry VIII, taking over the military duties of the Sheriff and control of the military forces of the Crown. From 1569, there was provision for the appointment of Deputies, and in 1662 the Lord-Lieutenant was given entire control of...
from 1885 to 1905. On the death in 1964 of his grandson, the seventh Earl, the line of the eldest son of the first Earl failed. The seventh Earl was succeeded by his distant relative, the eighth Earl. He was the great-great-great-grandson of Reverend the Hon. Charles Redlynch Fox-Strangways, third son of the first Earl. the titles are held by his grandson, the tenth Earl, who succeeded his uncle in 2006.
The family seat is Farley Mill, Westerham
Westerham
Westerham is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, in South East England with 5,000 people. The parish is south of the North Downs, ten miles west of Sevenoaks. It covers 5800 acres . It is recorded as early as the 9th century, and was mentioned in the Domesday Book in a...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, but was formerly Melbury House
Melbury House
Melbury House in Melbury Sampford near Evershot, Dorset, has been the seat of the Strangways family of Dorset since the estate was sold in 1500 by William Bruning to Henry Strangways. The present house was rebuilt after 1546 by his son, Sir Giles Strangways , using ham stone from a quarry nine...
in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
.
Earls of Ilchester (1756)
- Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of IlchesterStephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of IlchesterStephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of Ilchester PC was a British peer and Member of Parliament.Ilchester was the son of Sir Stephen Fox and his second wife Christiana Hope. Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, was his younger brother and Charles James Fox his nephew...
(1704–1776) - Henry Thomas Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of IlchesterHenry Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of IlchesterHenry Thomas Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester , known as Lord Stavordale from 1756 to 1776, was a British peer and Member of Parliament....
(1747–1802) - Henry Stephen Fox-Strangways, 3rd Earl of IlchesterHenry Fox-Strangways, 3rd Earl of IlchesterHenry Stephen Fox-Strangways, 3rd Earl of Ilchester PC , styled Lord Stavordale from birth until 1802, was a British peer and Whig politician...
(1787–1858)- Henry Thomas Leopold Fox-Strangways, Lord Stavordale (1816–1837)
- Stephen Fox-Strangways, Lord Stavordale (1817–1848)
- William Thomas Horner Fox-Strangways, 4th Earl of IlchesterWilliam Fox-Strangways, 4th Earl of IlchesterWilliam Thomas Horner Fox-Strangways, 4th Earl of Ilchester FRS , styled The Honourable William Fox-Strangways until 1858, was a British diplomat and Whig politician...
(1795–1865) - Henry Edward Fox-Strangways, 5th Earl of IlchesterHenry Fox-Strangways, 5th Earl of IlchesterHenry Edward Fox-Strangways, 5th Earl of Ilchester PC , 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.-Background and...
(1847–1905) - Giles Stephen Holland Fox-Strangways, 6th Earl of IlchesterGiles Fox-Strangways, 6th Earl of IlchesterGiles Stephen Holland Fox-Strangways, 6th Earl of Ilchester GBE, FSA, DL , styled Lord Stavordale until 1905, was a British peer and philanthropist.-Background and education:...
(1874–1959) - (Edward) Henry Charles James Fox-Strangways, 7th Earl of Ilchester (1905–1964)
- Giles Henry Holland Fox-Strangways (1934–1947)
- Charles Stephen Fox-Strangways (1938–1958)
- Walter Angelo Fox-Strangways, 8th Earl of Ilchester (1887–1970)
- Maurice Vivian de Touffreville Fox-Strangways, 9th Earl of IlchesterMaurice Fox-Strangways, 9th Earl of IlchesterGroup Captain Maurice Vivian de Touffreville Fox-Strangways, 9th Earl of Ilchester served in the Royal Air Force for 40 years, from 1936 to 1976. From 1955, he concentrated mainly as an engineer involved with nuclear weapons...
(1920–2006) - Robin Maurice Fox-Strangways, 10th Earl of Ilchester (b. 1942)
The heir apparent is the present holder's only son Simon James Fox-Strangways, Lord Stavordale (b. 1972)