Edmund Henry Byng, 6th Earl of Strafford (27 January 1862 – 24 December 1951), styled Viscount Enfield between 1899 and 1918, of

Wrotham Park Wrotham Park (pronounced , ) is a neo-Palladian English country house in the parish of South Mimms, Hertfordshire. It lies south of the town of Potters Bar, from Hyde Park Corner in central London. The house was designed by Isaac Ware in 17 ...

in the parish of

South Mimms South Mimms is a village and civil parish in the Hertsmere district of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It is a small settlement located near to the junction of the M25 motorway with the A1(M) motorway and is perhaps more widely known because ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

(later in Hertfordshire) and

5, St James's Square 5, St James's Square (anciently Wentworth House) is a Grade II* listed historic townhouse in London, England, built 1748–51 by William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford (1722–1791) to the design of Matthew Brettingham the Elder. It remained t ...

, London, was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

peer.

Origins

He was the second son (the first having died in infancy) of Reverend

Francis Byng, 5th Earl of Strafford Rev. Francis Edmund Cecil Byng, 5th Earl of Strafford (15 January 1835 – 18 January 1918) was an English Anglican minister and member of the peerage. Background Byng was born 15 January 1835, third son of George Byng, 2nd Earl of Straffor ...

(1835–1918) by his wife Florence Louisa Miles (1840–1862), a daughter of

Sir William Miles, 1st Baronet Sir William Miles, 1st Baronet (13 May 1797 – 17 June 1878), was an English politician, agriculturalist and landowner. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, and was created a baronet on 19 April 1859, of Leigh Court, ...

, who died giving birth to him.

Career

He was a County Alderman in

and Hertfordshire. He was elected a

Fellow of the Zoological Society of London The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park. History On 29 ...

(FZS) in July 1902.

Marriage and children

He married Mary Elizabeth Colebrooke, a daughter of

Sir Thomas Colebrooke, 4th Baronet Sir Thomas Edward Colebrooke, 4th Baronet (19 August 1813 – 11 January 1890), who was known as Sir Edward Colebrooke,Binns, p.xv. According to Binns, "His name was Thomas Edward Colebrooke but he was always known as Sir Edward and signed h ...

by whom he had two daughters and co-heiresses:''Debrett's'', 1968, p. 1060 *Lady (Florence) Elizabeth Alice Byng (1897–1987), eldest daughter, who was bequeathed by her father his two principal properties, Wrotham Park in Hertfordshire and

in London. In 1928 she married Michael William M. Lafone of Kenya, the son of Major Edgar Mortimer Lafone (1867–1938), 4th Queen's Own Hussars and Chief Constable of the Metropolitan Police. Edgar's father was

Alfred Lafone Alfred Lafone (13 February 1821 – 26 April 1911) of Hanworth Park, Feltham, Middlesex, was a British leather merchant and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician in London. He was the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Membe ...

(1821–1911) of

Hanworth Park London Air Park, also known as Hanworth Air Park, was a grass airfield in the grounds of Hanworth Park House, operational 1917–1919 and 1929–1947. It was on the southeastern edge of Feltham, now part of the London Borough of Hounslow. In th ...

, a wealthy leather merchant and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

Bermondsey Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham ...

. She divorced her husband in 1931, having had issue: **Julian Michael Edmund Lafone (born 1928), a barrister who in 1952 changed his surname by deed poll to his matronymic "Byng", following a similar action by his mother following her divorce in 1931 and paternal inheritance in 1951. He attempted to evict his mother from Wrotham Park in a lawsuit presided over in the high court by Lord Oliver of Aylmerton. He inherited Wrotham Park and 5, St James's Square. In 1960 he married Eva Finola Wellesley-Wesley, only daughter of Capt. Michael Wellesley-Wesley, of Tahilla, County Kerry, Ireland, by whom he had issue including: ***Robert Michael Julian Wentworth Byng (born 1962), since 1991 owner of Wrotham Park. ***Georgiana Margaret Elizabeth Byng (born 1964). *Lady Mary Millicent Rachel Byng (born 1899), younger daughter, who married Major-General Robert Francis Brydges Naylor, by whom she had children: **Christopher Charles Francis Naylor (born 1929) **Edmund John Robert Naylor (born 1930) **Mary Elizabeth Katharine Naylor (born 1933)

Succession

Upon his death in 1951, he was succeeded in the titles, but not in his estates, by his nephew, Robert Cecil Byng, 7th Earl of Strafford.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strafford, Edmund Henry Byng, 6th Earl of 1861 births 1951 deaths Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Edmund Members of Middlesex County Council Fellows of the Zoological Society of London