The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' ( American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...

John William Fortescue (14 July 1819 – 25 September 1859) was a British Whig politician.

Background

Fortescue was the second son of

Hugh Fortescue, 2nd Earl Fortescue Hugh Fortescue, 2nd Earl Fortescue KG, PC (13 February 1783 – 14 September 1861), styled Viscount Ebrington from 1789 to 1841, was a British Whig politician. He served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1839 to 1841. Background and educa ...

, and Lady Susan, daughter of

Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby, PC, FSA (22 December 176226 December 1847) was a prominent British politician of the Pittite faction and the Tory party. Background and education Born in London, Ryder was the eldest son of Nathaniel Ryder ...

. His paternal grandmother Hester Grenville was the daughter of

George Grenville George Grenville (14 October 1712 – 13 November 1770) was a British Whig statesman who rose to the position of Prime Minister of Great Britain. Grenville was born into an influential political family and first entered Parliament in 1741 as an ...

Hugh Fortescue, 3rd Earl Fortescue Hugh Fortescue, 3rd Earl Fortescue DL (4 April 1818 – 10 October 1905), known as Viscount Ebrington from 1841 to 1861, was a British peer and occasional Liberal Party politician. Life He was born in London on 4 April 1818. He was the eld ...

and the Hon. Dudley Fortescue were his brothers.

Political career

Fortescue was returned to Parliament as one of two representatives for Barnstaple in 1847, a seat he held until 1852. He was also a Major and later

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

commanding the

East Devon Militia The 1st or East Devon Militia, later the 3rd Battalion, Devonshire Regiment, was a part-time military unit in the maritime county of Devonshire in the West of England. The Militia had always been important in the county, which was vulnerable to ...

from 1853 to 1856.Col Henry Walrond, ''Historical Records of the 1st Devon Militia (4th Battalion The Devonshire Regiment), With a Notice of the 2nd and North Devon Militia Regiments'', London: Longmans, 1897/Andesite Press, 2015, , Apendix A, p. 410.

Personal life

Fortescue died in September 1859, aged 40. He never married.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fortescue, John 1819 births 1859 deaths Younger sons of earls Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Barnstaple UK MPs 1847–1852 Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

British Militia officers Devon Militia officers