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 Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

Life

Ilchester was the eldest son of Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of Ilchester, 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 po ...

, was his uncle. He was educated at Eton (1760–1764) and Christ Church, Oxford (1765). He was elected to the

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for

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, 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 upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...

. He bought an army commission in 1770 and was made a captain in the

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, 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

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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 Mar ...

, 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 stu ...

, by whom he had two sons and six daughters, including: ** Henry Fox-Strangways, 3rd Earl of Ilchester, 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 Jun ...

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, an

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, younger brother of Henry Digby, 1st Earl Digby, 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.

Death and succession

He died in September 1802, aged 55, and was succeeded by his son from his first marriage, Henry Fox-Strangways, 3rd Earl of Ilchester.

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 visua ...

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 supporter ...

of Henry Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester, in the Ilchester Chapel at Farley, shows his quartered arms impaling

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O'Grady (''Per pale gules and sable, three lions passant guardant in pale per pale argent and or'') and sinister Digby (''Azure, a fleur-de-lys argent'') quartering FitzGerald.

Life

Marriages and issue

Death and succession

Arms

References

Further reading