John Byng, 1st Earl of Strafford
Encyclopedia
Field Marshal
John Byng, 1st Earl of Strafford, GCB
, GCH
, PC (I)
(1772 – 3 June 1860) was a British
peer
, politician and soldier.
, third son of George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington
. His mother was Anne, a maternal granddaughter of the 1st Earl of Strafford
of the first creation. George Byng was his elder brother. In 1793, he joined the 33rd Regiment of Foot as an Ensign
and fought under Col. Arthur Wellesley
(later Duke of Wellington) in Flanders
from 1793–95 and was wounded at Geldermalsen. From 1797 to 1798, he was aide-de-camp
to General Vyse
in Ireland
, where he was again wounded, this time in the Irish Rebellion of 1798
. In 1800, he became a Major
in the 60th Regiment of Foot, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the 29th Regiment of Foot
a few months later, and was stationed at Halifax, Nova Scotia
from 1802 to 1804. In 1804, he transferred to the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards and took part in the Hanoverian Expedition in 1805, the Siege of Copenhagen in 1807 and the Walcheren Expedition in 1809.
under General Hill
. He was engaged in Spain
and southern France
at the battles of Vitoria
, the Pyrenees
, Pamplona (where he was wounded), the Nivelle
(where he was again wounded) and the Nive
in 1813. He fought in actions at Espelette
, Garris
, Orthez
, Aire-sur-l'Adour
and Toulouse
in 1814. During the Battle of Waterloo
he led a brigade of Guards (2/2nd Guards
and 2/3rd Guards
) in the 1st Division. He was involved in the advance on Paris
soon after and occupied the heights of Montmartre
. He was appointed a KCB
in 1815, twice received thanks from both Houses of Parliament, was promoted to a Lieutenant-General in 1825 and was appointed a GCH
in 1826. In recognition of his services, he was awarded the Army Gold Cross, with one clasp, for the battles of Vitoria, the Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive, and Orthez; the Military General Service Medal
with one clasp for Toulouse; and the Waterloo Medal
.
and admitted to the Privy Council of Ireland
the same year. After leaving Ireland in 1831, he was appointed a GCB
and switched to politics, being elected as Member of Parliament
(MP) for Poole in Dorset
, a seat he held until he was raised to the Peerage
as Baron Strafford in 1835. In 1841, he was promoted to a General
He was further raised in the Peerage as Viscount Enfield and Earl of Strafford 1843 and inherited Wrotham Park
from his eldest brother in 1847. In 1855, he was further promoted to the highest military rank of Field Marshal
and on his death five years later in 1860, his titles passed to his eldest son, Viscount Enfield
.
Byng's first wife died from complications of the birth shortly after and on 9 May 1808, he married Marianne James (the second daughter of Sir Walter James Head, Bart. and maternal granddaughter of the 1st Earl Camden
) and they had four children:
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
John Byng, 1st Earl of Strafford, GCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, GCH
Royal Guelphic Order
The Royal Guelphic Order, sometimes also referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent . It has not been conferred by the British Crown since the death of King William IV in 1837, when the personal union of the...
, PC (I)
Privy Council of Ireland
The Privy Council of Ireland was an institution of the Kingdom of Ireland until 31 December 1800 and of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1801-1922...
(1772 – 3 June 1860) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
peer
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
, politician and soldier.
Early years
Byng was the third son of Major George Byng, son of the Hon. Robert ByngRobert Byng
Robert Byng was the third son of George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington by his wife Margaret Master. On 19 December 1734 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Jonathan Forward, and by her had issue, including an eldest son, George, born 1735. This George, later of Wrotham Park, was the father of John...
, third son of George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington
George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington
Admiral of the Fleet George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington, KB PC was a British naval officer and statesman of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. His career included service as First Lord of the Admiralty during the reign of King George II.-Naval career:Byng was born at Wrotham, Kent, England...
. His mother was Anne, a maternal granddaughter of the 1st Earl of Strafford
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford was an English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament and was a supporter of King Charles I. From 1632 to 1639 he instituted a harsh rule as Lord Deputy of Ireland...
of the first creation. George Byng was his elder brother. In 1793, he joined the 33rd Regiment of Foot as an Ensign
Ensign (rank)
Ensign is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank itself acquired the name....
and fought under Col. Arthur Wellesley
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
(later Duke of Wellington) in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
from 1793–95 and was wounded at Geldermalsen. From 1797 to 1798, he was aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to General Vyse
Richard William Howard Vyse
Major-General Sir Richard William Howard Vyse, KCMG was a British soldier, anthropologist and Egyptologist. He was also Member of Parliament for Beverley and Honiton .-Family life:...
in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, where he was again wounded, this time in the Irish Rebellion of 1798
Irish Rebellion of 1798
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 , also known as the United Irishmen Rebellion , was an uprising in 1798, lasting several months, against British rule in Ireland...
. In 1800, he became a Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
in the 60th Regiment of Foot, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the 29th Regiment of Foot
29th Regiment of Foot
The 29th Regiment of Foot was, from 1694 to 1881, an infantry regiment of the British Army. It now forms part of the Mercian Regiment.-Formation:...
a few months later, and was stationed at Halifax, Nova Scotia
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
from 1802 to 1804. In 1804, he transferred to the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards and took part in the Hanoverian Expedition in 1805, the Siege of Copenhagen in 1807 and the Walcheren Expedition in 1809.
Napoleonic Wars
In 1811, Byng was promoted to a Brigadier-General and fought in the Peninsular WarPeninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
under General Hill
Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill
General Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill of Almaraz GCB, GCH served in the Napoleonic Wars as a trusted brigade, division and corps commander under the command of the Duke of Wellington. He became Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in 1829.-Early career:Educated at a school in Chester, Hill was...
. He was engaged in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and southern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
at the battles of Vitoria
Battle of Vitoria
At the Battle of Vitoria an allied British, Portuguese, and Spanish army under General the Marquess of Wellington broke the French army under Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan near Vitoria in Spain, leading to eventual victory in the Peninsular War.-Background:In July 1812, after...
, the Pyrenees
Battle of the Pyrenees
The Battle of the Pyrenees was a large-scale offensive launched on 25 July 1813 by Marshal Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult from the Pyrénées region on Emperor Napoleon’s order, in the hope of relieving French garrisons under siege at Pamplona and San Sebastián...
, Pamplona (where he was wounded), the Nivelle
Battle of Nivelle
The Battle of Nivelle took place in front of the River Nivelle near the end of the Peninsular War . After the Allied siege of San Sebastian, Wellington's 80,000 British, Portuguese and Spanish troops were in hot pursuit of Marshal Soult who only had 60,000 men to place in a 20-mile perimeter...
(where he was again wounded) and the Nive
Battle of the Nive
The Battles of the Nive were fought towards the end of the Peninsular War. Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese and Spanish army defeated Marshal Nicolas Soult's French army in a series of battles near the city of Bayonne.Unusually, for most of the battle, Wellington...
in 1813. He fought in actions at Espelette
Espelette
Espelette is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.It lies in the traditional Basque province of Labourd.-Sights:...
, Garris
Garris
Garris is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.It is located in the former province of Lower Navarre.-External links:*...
, Orthez
Battle of Orthez
The Battle of Orthez saw the Anglo-Portuguese Army under Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington defeat a French army led by Marshal Nicolas Soult in southern France near the end of the Peninsular War.-Preliminaries:...
, Aire-sur-l'Adour
Aire-sur-l'Adour
Aire-sur-l'Adour is a commune in the Landes département in Aquitaine in south-western France.It lies on the river Adour in the wine area of southwest France. It is an episcopal see of the Diocese of Aire and Dax. The nearest large towns are Mont-de-Marsan to the north and Pau to the...
and Toulouse
Battle of Toulouse (1814)
The Battle of Toulouse was one of the final battles of the Napoleonic Wars, four days after Napoleon's surrender of the French Empire to the nations of the Sixth Coalition...
in 1814. During the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
he led a brigade of Guards (2/2nd Guards
Coldstream Guards
Her Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, also known officially as the Coldstream Guards , is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division or Household Division....
and 2/3rd Guards
Scots Guards
The Scots Guards is a regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army, whose origins lie in the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland...
) in the 1st Division. He was involved in the advance on Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
soon after and occupied the heights of Montmartre
Montmartre
Montmartre is a hill which is 130 metres high, giving its name to the surrounding district, in the north of Paris in the 18th arrondissement, a part of the Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on its summit and as a nightclub district...
. He was appointed a KCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
in 1815, twice received thanks from both Houses of Parliament, was promoted to a Lieutenant-General in 1825 and was appointed a GCH
Royal Guelphic Order
The Royal Guelphic Order, sometimes also referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent . It has not been conferred by the British Crown since the death of King William IV in 1837, when the personal union of the...
in 1826. In recognition of his services, he was awarded the Army Gold Cross, with one clasp, for the battles of Vitoria, the Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive, and Orthez; the Military General Service Medal
Military General Service Medal
The Military General Service Medal was a campaign medal approved in 1847, for issue to officers and men of the British Army.The MGSM was approved on 1 June 1847 as a retrospective award for various military actions from 1793–1814; a period encompassing the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic...
with one clasp for Toulouse; and the Waterloo Medal
Waterloo Medal
The Waterloo Medal was awarded to any soldier of the British Army who took part in one or more of the following battles: Battle of Ligny , Battle of Quatre Bras , and the Battle of Waterloo ....
.
Ireland and politics
In 1828, Byng was appointed Commander-in-Chief, IrelandCommander-in-Chief, Ireland
Commander-in-Chief, Ireland was title of the commander of British forces in Ireland before 1922.The role nominally is held by the President of Ireland today as the supreme commander of the Defence Forces.-Commanders-in-Chief, Ireland, 1700-1922:...
and admitted to the Privy Council of Ireland
Privy Council of Ireland
The Privy Council of Ireland was an institution of the Kingdom of Ireland until 31 December 1800 and of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1801-1922...
the same year. After leaving Ireland in 1831, he was appointed a GCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
and switched to politics, being elected as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Poole 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...
, a seat he held until he was raised to the Peerage
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
as Baron Strafford in 1835. In 1841, he was promoted to a General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
He was further raised in the Peerage as Viscount Enfield and Earl of Strafford 1843 and inherited Wrotham Park
Wrotham Park
Wrotham Park, Hertsmere, Hertfordshire is a neo-Palladian English country house, designed by Isaac Ware in 1754 for Admiral John Byng, the fourth son of Admiral Sir George Byng, which remains in the family at the heart of a estate seventeen miles from Hyde Park Corner...
from his eldest brother in 1847. In 1855, he was further promoted to the highest military rank of Field Marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
and on his death five years later in 1860, his titles passed to his eldest son, Viscount Enfield
George Byng, 2nd Earl of Strafford
George Stevens Byng, 2nd Earl of Strafford, PC , styled Viscount Enfield between 1847 and 1860, was a British peer and Whig politician.-Background, education and military career:...
.
Family
On 14 June 1804, Byng married heiress, Mary Mackenzie and they had one child:- Hon. George Stevens Byng, later styled Viscount Enfield, later 2nd Earl of StraffordGeorge Byng, 2nd Earl of StraffordGeorge Stevens Byng, 2nd Earl of Strafford, PC , styled Viscount Enfield between 1847 and 1860, was a British peer and Whig politician.-Background, education and military career:...
(1806–1886)
Byng's first wife died from complications of the birth shortly after and on 9 May 1808, he married Marianne James (the second daughter of Sir Walter James Head, Bart. and maternal granddaughter of the 1st Earl Camden
Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden
Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden was an English lawyer, judge and Whig politician who was first to hold the title of Earl of Camden...
) and they had four children:
- Hon. William Frederick (d. 1877)
- Lady Harriet Frances (d. 1873), married Capt. Charles Ramsden.
- Hon. Frances (d. 1846), married Henry TufnellHenry TufnellHenry Tufnell was a British Whig politician. He entered the House of Commons in 1837 as a member for Ipswich, having previously been defeated in the North Essex election in 1835, but lost that seat a year later. He was returned for Devonport in a by-election in 1840 and held that seat until 1854...
. - Lady Caroline Frances (d. 27 May 1898), mar. 18 Aug 1835 Sir Walter George Stirling, Bart.