Henry Thomas Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester (29 July 1747 – 5 September 1802), known as Lord Stavordale from 1756 to 1776, was a British peer and

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 ...

Life

Ilchester was the eldest son of

Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of Ilchester Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of Ilchester PC (12 September 1704 – 26 September 1776) was a British peer and Member of Parliament. Origins Fox was the eldest surviving son of Sir Stephen Fox (1627-1716), the first Paymaster of the Forces ...

, and his wife, the former Elizabeth Horner.

Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, PC (28 September 1705 – 1 July 1774), of Holland House in Kensington and of Holland House in Kingsgate, Kent, was a leading British politician. He identified primarily with the Whig faction. He held the post ...

, was his uncle. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

(1760–1764) and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

(1765). He was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

for

Midhurst Midhurst () is a market town, parish and civil parish in West Sussex, England. It lies on the River Rother inland from the English Channel, and north of the county town of Chichester. The name Midhurst was first recorded in 1186 as ''Middeh ...

, Sussex in 1768 (along with his cousin

Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the arch-riv ...

), a seat he retained until 1774. Two years later he succeeded his father as second Earl of Ilchester and took his seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. He bought an army commission in 1770 and was made a captain in the 24th Regiment of Foot, but in 1775 when the regiment was sent to America he resigned his commission. Detailed information about the Ilchester household and family survives in the published diaries and correspondence of

Agnes Porter Agnes Porter (c.1752 – 1814) was a British governess known for her diaries. Life Porter was born in Edinburgh; her year of birth is uncertain but her birthday was 18 June. Her father was a member of the clergy. She was fluent in French and she ...

, a Scottish-born

governess A governess is a largely obsolete term for a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching. In contrast to a nanny, th ...

to his many daughters from 1784 to 1797. The family's previous governess had been

Jane Gardiner Jane Arden Gardiner (1758–1840) was a British schoolmistress and grammarian, and one of the earliest friends of Mary Wollstonecraft. Early life Gardiner was the daughter of John Arden, a scholar and lecturer, who is best known as one of Mary ...

, a childhood friend of

Mary Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft (, ; 27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was a British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional personal relationsh ...

Marriages and issue

He married twice: *Firstly, in 1772, to Mary Theresa O'Grady (died 1792), a daughter of Standish

O'Grady ''O'Grady'' (stylized as ''O*gRAdY'') is an American animated television series created by Tom Snyder, Carl W. Adams, and Holly Schlesinger for Noggin's teen-oriented programming block, The N. The show was animated at Snyder's Soup2Nuts studio ...

, by whom he had two sons and six daughters, including: **

Henry Fox-Strangways, 3rd Earl of Ilchester Henry Stephen Fox-Strangways, 3rd Earl of Ilchester, PC (21 February 1787 – 8 January 1858), styled Lord Stavordale from birth until 1802, was a British peer and Whig politician. He served as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard under Lord Melb ...

, eldest son and heir **Louisa, 5th daughter (d.1851), married in 1808 Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, later 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne *Secondly, in 1794, he married Maria Digby, a daughter of Rev. William Digby,

Dean of Worcester The Dean of Worcester is the head of the Chapter of Worcester Cathedral in Worcester, England. The current dean is Peter Atkinson, who lives at The Deanery, College Green, Worcester. Crockford's on-line accessed by subscription Tuesday 11 June ...

Dean of Durham The Dean of Durham is the "head" (''primus inter pares'' – first among equals) and chair of the Chapter, the ruling body of Durham Cathedral. The dean and chapter are based at the ''Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cu ...

, an

Honorary Chaplain to the King An Honorary Chaplain to the King (KHC) is a member of the clergy within the United Kingdom who, through long and distinguished service, is appointed to minister to the monarch of the United Kingdom. When the reigning monarch is female, Honorary Ch ...

, younger brother of

Henry Digby, 1st Earl Digby Henry Digby, 1st Earl Digby (21 July 1731 – 25 September 1793) was a British peer and Member of Parliament. Early life Digby was the younger son of Charlotte Fox and Hon. Edward Digby, a Member of Parliament for Warwickshire from 1726 to 1746 ...

, and first cousin of

. By Maria Digby he had three sons, including: ** John George Charles Fox-Strangways (1803–1859), third son, whose mural monument survives in the Ilchester Chapel of All Saints Church,

Farley, Wiltshire Farley is a village in southeast Wiltshire, England, about east of Salisbury. Geography Farley is one of the Dun Valley villages, together with East Grimstead, West Dean and Pitton. Streams which form the River Dun rise to the west and so ...

Death and succession

He died in September 1802, aged 55, and was succeeded by his son from his first marriage,

Arms

The arms of the head of the Fox-Strangways family are

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...

ed ''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)."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 A

Funerary hatchment A funerary hatchment is a depiction within a black lozenge-shaped frame, generally on a black ('' sable'') background, of a deceased's heraldic achievement, that is to say the escutcheon showing the arms, together with the crest and supp ...

of Henry Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester, in the Ilchester Chapel at

Farley Farley may refer to: People * Farley (name), a list of people with the given name or surname Places Antarctica * Mount Farley * Farley Massif Australia * Farley, New South Wales * Farley railway station England * Farley, Derbyshire * Farle ...

, shows his quartered arms impaling dexter O'Grady (''Per pale gules and sable, three lions passant guardant in pale per pale argent and or'') and

sinister Sinister commonly refers to: * Evil * Ominous Sinister may also refer to: Left side * Sinister, Latin for the direction " left" * Sinister, in heraldry, is the bearer's true left side (viewers' right side) of an escutcheon or coat of arms; see ...

Digby (''Azure, a fleur-de-lys argent'') quartering FitzGerald.

Life

Marriages and issue

Death and succession

Arms

References

Further reading