Henry John Chetwynd-Talbot, 18th Earl of Shrewsbury, 18th Earl of Waterford, 3rd Earl Talbot, CB, PC (8 November 1803 – 4 June 1868), styled Viscount of Ingestre between 1826 and 1849 and known as The Earl Talbot between 1849 and 1858, was a British naval commander 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 i ...

politician.

Background

Shrewsbury was the second but eldest surviving son of

Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 2nd Earl Talbot Charles Chetwynd Chetwynd-Talbot, 2nd Earl Talbot, KG, PC, FRS (25 April 1777 – 10 January 1849), styled Viscount of Ingestre between 1784 and 1793, was a British politician and slave holder. He served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland betwee ...

, by his marriage to Frances Thomasine, a daughter of Charles Lambart. He was styled Viscount Ingestre from the death of his elder brother in 1826 and succeeded his father as 3rd Earl Talbot in 1849. In 1860, following a long and expensive legal case 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 ...

, and against the claims of three others ( Lord Edmund Howard Talbot, infant son of the 14th Duke of Norfolk by whom he was represented, Princess Doria Pamphili (daughter of John, 16th Earl) and Major William Talbot (of Castle Talbot, County Wexford, a descendant of William, 4th Earl), he succeeded to the titles and estates (including Alton Towers) of a distant cousin and became 18th

Earl of Shrewsbury Earl of Shrewsbury () is a hereditary title of nobility created twice in the Peerage of England. The second earldom dates to 1442. The holder of the Earldom of Shrewsbury also holds the title of Earl of Waterford (1446) in the Peerage of Ireland ...

and 18th Earl of Waterford.

Military career

Talbot (as he then was) entered 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 ...

in 1817. He commanded at the

Battle of Navarino The Battle of Navarino was a naval battle fought on 20 October (O. S. 8 October) 1827, during the Greek War of Independence (1821–29), in Navarino Bay (modern Pylos), on the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula, in the Ionian Sea. Allied fo ...

, and was picked by Vice-Admiral Codrington to bring home the despatches announcing the victory. He was soon after promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. On 9 March 1831, his father, the

Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire This is a list of people who have served as lord lieutenant for Staffordshire. Since 1828, all lord lieutenants have also been custos rotulorum of Staffordshire. Lord Lieutenants of Staffordshire *Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford 1559 *George T ...

, commissioned him a lieutenant in the Staffordshire Yeomanry, which he gave up in 1833. On 2 June 1832 his father appointed him lieutenant-colonel of the Staffordshire Militia, which he resigned in early 1846. He was promoted a

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 ...

in 1854 and a vice-admiral and

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, ...

in 1865. As Viscount Ingestre, while serving in the House of Commons, he was a leading supporter of the charlatan naval inventor Samuel Alfred Warner.

Political career

Ingestre was returned to Parliament as one of two representatives for Hertford in 1830. In May of the following year he was elected for

Armagh City Armagh City was a United Kingdom Parliament constituency in Ireland. Boundaries This constituency was the parliamentary borough of Armagh in County Armagh. It was the successor constituency to the Armagh City constituency of the Parliament of ...

, a seat he only held until August 1831, and then represented Dublin City until 1832. In 1832 he was once again returned for Hertford. However, the election was declared void on petition in 1833. He returned 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. ...

as one of the two representatives for Staffordshire South in 1837, a seat he held until he succeeded his father in the Talbot earldom in 1849. After entering the

he served under the

Earl of Derby Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the end ...

as a lord-in-waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) in 1852 and as

Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms The Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms is a post in the Government of the United Kingdom that has been held by the Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is th ...

from 1858 to 1859. In 1858 he was sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

Family

In 1828, while Lord Ingestre, he married Lady Sarah Elizabeth, daughter of

Henry Beresford, 2nd Marquess of Waterford Henry de La Poer Beresford, 2nd Marquess of Waterford KP, PC (Ire) (23 May 1772 – 16 July 1826) styled Lord Le Poer from 1783 until 1789 and Earl of Tyrone from 1789 to 1800, was an Irish peer. Beresford entered the Irish House of Commons for ...

, by his marriage to Sarah Carpenter. They had four sons and four daughters: *

Charles John Chetwynd-Talbot, 19th Earl of Shrewsbury Charles John Chetwynd-Talbot, 19th Earl of Shrewsbury, 19th Earl of Waterford, 4th Earl Talbot, PC (13 April 1830 – 11 May 1877), styled Viscount of Ingestre between 1849 and 1868, was a British Conservative politician. He served as Captain o ...

(13 Apr 1830 - 11 May 1877) *Lady Victoria Susan Chetwynd-Talbot (27 Feb 1831 - 8 June 1856). Died unmarried. * Admiral Walter Cecil Carpenter (27 March 1834 - 13 May 1904) *Lady Constance Harriet Mahonesa Chetwynd-Talbot (15 June 1836 - 10 Oct 1901) married

William Kerr, 8th Marquess of Lothian William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

. They had no children. *Lady Gertrude Frances Chetwynd-Talbot (21 Mar 1840 - 30 Sep 1906) married

George Herbert, 13th Earl of Pembroke George Robert Charles Herbert, 13th Earl of Pembroke, 10th Earl of Montgomery (6 July 1850 – 3 May 1895), known as The Lord Herbert of Lea from 1861 to 1862, was a British Conservative politician. He was Under-Secretary of State for War under ...

. They had no children. * Sir Reginald Arthur James Chetwynd-Talbot (11 July 1841 - 15 Jan 1929) *Lady Adelaide Chetwynd-Talbot (8 July 1844 - 16 Mar 1917) married

Adelbert Brownlow-Cust, 3rd Earl Brownlow Adelbert Wellington Brownlow-Cust, 3rd Earl Brownlow (19 August 1844 – 17 March 1921), was a British soldier, courtier and Conservative politician. Background and education Brownlow was the second son of John Egerton, Viscount Alford, eldest ...

, in 1868. They had no children. *Alfred Chetwynd-Talbot (14 Sep 1848 - 9 May 1913) married Emily Augusta Louisa de Grey, daughter of

Thomas de Grey, 5th Baron Walsingham Thomas de Grey, 5th Baron Walsingham (6 July 1804 – 31 December 1870), of Merton Hall, Norfolk, was a British peer. Life Grey was born in Chelsea, the eldest son of the Venerable Thomas de Grey, Archdeacon of Surrey, a clergyman who in 1831 ...

. They had three sons and two daughters. Lord Shrewsbury died in June 1868, aged 64, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son Charles. The Countess of Shrewsbury survived her husband by sixteen years and died in October 1884, aged 76.

Ancestry

Notes

References

Short biography

External links