Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Francis Egerton (15 September 1824 – 15 December 1895), known as Francis Leveson-Gower until 1833, was a British naval commander and politician from the

Egerton family The Egerton family (pronunciation: "''edge-er-ton''") is a British aristocratic family. Over time, several members of the Egerton family were made Dukes, Earls, knights, baronets and peers. Hereditary titles held by the Egerton family include t ...

Early life

Egerton was the second son of eleven children born to Harriet Catherine Greville, Countess of Ellesmere, and

Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere, (1 January 1800 – 18 February 1857), known as Lord Francis Leveson-Gower until 1833, was a British politician, writer, traveller and patron of the arts. Ellesmere Island, a major island (10th in size am ...

, who served as

Secretary at War The Secretary at War was a political position in the English and later British government, with some responsibility over the administration and organization of the Army, but not over military policy. The Secretary at War ran the War Office. Afte ...

and Chief Secretary for Ireland. His father inherited the considerable wealth (but not the titles) of

Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater (21 May 1736 – 8 March 1803), known as Lord Francis Egerton until 1748, was a British nobleman from the Egerton family. He was the youngest son of the 1st Duke. He did not marry, and the dukedom expire ...

. His mother, a great-great-granddaughter of the 5th Baron Brooke, was the daughter of Charles Greville, and his paternal grandparents were

George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland George Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland KG, PC (9 January 175819 July 1833), known as Viscount Trentham from 1758 to 1786, as Earl Gower from 1786 to 1803 and as the Marquess of Stafford from 1803 to 1833, was an English politi ...

and

Elizabeth Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland Elizabeth Sutherland Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland (''née'' Sutherland; 24 May 176529 January 1839), also ''suo jure'' 19th Countess of Sutherland, was a Scottish peer from the Leveson-Gower family, best remembered for her involvement i ...

(daughter of the 18th

Earl of Sutherland Earl of Sutherland is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created circa 1230 for William de Moravia and is the premier earldom in the Peerage of Scotland. The earl or countess of Sutherland is also the chief of Clan Sutherland. The origin ...

). His maternal uncle was the private secretary to the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

Career

In 1840, he joined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

and immediately saw active service due to the Oriental Crisis of that year: he served off the Syrian coast and was present at the bombardment of

Acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

. During the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

he was in command of and in 1855 he reached the rank of captain. He was '' aide-de-camp'' to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

from 1865 to 1873. In 1873, he was promoted to

Rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

, and he was placed on the retired list in November 1875. Following his retirement, he continued to be promoted: in 1878 to Vice-admiral and in 1884 to the rank of

. He also sat as

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 of ...

for Derbyshire East from 1868 to 1885 and for Derbyshire North-East from 1885 to 1886. In his later years he was a resident of

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, where he continued his political activities as president of the

Chertsey Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, south-west of central London. It grew up round Chertsey Abbey, founded in 666 CE, and gained a market charter from Henry I. A bridge across the River Thames first appeared in the ...

Division of the Central Liberal Council. He was appointed

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...

of the county in 1893.

Personal life

Egerton married Lady Louisa Caroline Cavendish (1835–1907), daughter of

William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire, (27 April 1808 – 21 December 1891), styled as Lord Cavendish of Keighley between 1831 and 1834 and known as Earl of Burlington between 1834 and 1858, was a British landowner, benefactor, nobleman, ...

, and sister of

Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire Spencer Compton Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire, (23 July 183324 March 1908), styled Lord Cavendish of Keighley between 1834 and 1858 and Marquess of Hartington between 1858 and 1891, was a British statesman. He has the distinction of having ...

, in 1861. Together, Francis and Lady Louisa were the parents of: * William Francis Egerton (1868–1949), who married Lady Alice Osborne, a daughter of

George Osborne, 9th Duke of Leeds George Godolphin Osborne, 9th Duke of Leeds (11 August 1828 – 23 December 1895) was a British peer. Life Born in Paris, France, he was the son of the 8th Duke of Leeds and Harriet Emma Arundel Stewart. In 1872, he succeeded to his father's tit ...

* Commander Frederick Greville Egerton (1869–1899), who died at

Ladysmith Ladysmith may refer to: * Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa * Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada * Ladysmith, Wisconsin, United States * Ladysmith, New South Wales, Australia * Ladysmith, Virginia, United States * Ladysmith Island, Queenslan ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, from wounds received in action. * Blanche Harriet Egerton (1871–1943), who was born in London. * Dorothy Charlotte Egerton (1874–1959), who was appointed Officer,

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

. * Christian Mary Egerton (1876–1970), who was appointed Member,

. He died on 15 December 1895 at his home in

Weybridge Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a crossing point of the ...

from heart disease aged 71 and was buried at

Byfleet Byfleet is a village in Surrey, England. It is located in the far east of the borough of Woking, around east of West Byfleet, from which it is separated by the M25 motorway and the Wey Navigation. The village is of medieval origin. Its win ...

Descendants

Through his son Francis, he was a grandfather of Captain Francis Egerton (1896–1935), who married the Hon. Doris Mary Pottinger Meysey-Thompson, a daughter of Henry Meysey-Thompson, 1st Baron Knaresborough and Ethel Adeline Pottinger (daughter of Sir Henry Pottinger, 3rd Baronet). Among her siblings was Helen Winifred, Lady Newton, the mother of

Peter Richard Legh, 4th Baron Newton Peter Richard Legh, 4th Baron Newton (6 April 1915 – 16 June 1992), was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who held junior ministerial positions during the 1950s and 1960s. Newton was the son of Richard Legh, 3rd Bar ...

; Violet Ethel Meysey-Thompson, the mother of Giles Vandeleur and wife of Sir

Algar Howard Sir Algar Henry Stafford Howard (7 August 1880 – 14 February 1970) was a senior British Army officer and long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He served as the Garter Principal King of Arms from 1944 to 1950 before re ...

References

External links

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Egerton, Francis 1824 births 1895 deaths Younger sons of earls Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Derbyshire Lord-Lieutenants of Surrey UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1885–1886

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

Royal Navy admirals Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies