Group Captain Maurice Vivian de Touffreville Fox-Strangways, 9th Earl of Ilchester (1 April 1920 – 2 July 2006), styled Lord Stavordale between 1964 and 1970, was a British engineer. He served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

for 40 years, from 1936 to 1976. From 1955, he concentrated mainly as an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

involved with nuclear weapons. He succeeded his father as

Earl of Ilchester Earl of Ilchester is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1756 for Stephen Fox, 1st Baron Ilchester, who had previously represented Shaftesbury in Parliament. He had already been created Baron Ilchester, of Ilchester in ...

in 1970, and was also an active cross-bench member of 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 Westminste ...

until 1999.

Background and education

His father was Walter Angelo Fox-Strangways, 8th Earl of Ilchester. Fox-Strangways was born in Port Tawfiq in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

while his father was serving in the British foreign consular service. He was educated at the now-defunct Kingsbridge Grammar School, and joined the

(RAF) as an

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

in January 1936, aged 15.

World War II and post-war military career

He trained at RAF Halton and was posted to

RAF Brize Norton Royal Air Force Brize Norton or RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, about west north-west of London, is the largest station of the Royal Air Force. It is close to the village of Brize Norton, and the towns of Carterton and Witney. The statio ...

, where he served during the early months of the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

. According to family folklore, he was bathing when an August 1940 air raid began. He ran naked into an air-raid shelter, which happened to be reserved for members of the

WAAF WAAF may refer to: * w3af, (short for web application attack and audit framework), an open-source web application security scanner * Women's Auxiliary Air Force, a British military service in World War II ** Waaf, a member of the service * WAAF (AM ...

. After this introduction, he married one of them, Diana Simpson, in November 1941. He completed his service in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

. By his return to England in 1946, he was a

Warrant Officer Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ranks, the mos ...

. He continued his service at

RAF Negombo Negombo (, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the west coast and at the mouth of the Negombo Lagoon, in the Western Province, Sri Lanka, Western Province, from Colombo via the E03 expressway (Sri Lanka), Colombo–Katunayake Expressway ...

in Ceylon and

RAF Kai Tak RAF Kai Tak was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Hong Kong, based at Kai Tak Airport. It was opened in 1927 and used for seaplanes. The RAF flight operated a few land based aircraft as well as having spare aircraft for naval units. History ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. Fox-Strangeways was selected for commissioning and he attended the Royal Air Force Technical College at

RAF Henlow RAF Henlow is a Royal Air Force station in Bedfordshire, England, equidistant from Bedford, Luton and Stevenage. It houses the RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine, the Joint Arms Control Implementation Group (JACIG), elements of Defence Equipment ...

in 1953. By the mid-1950s he was a

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is als ...

and became involved with the development of nuclear weapons at the Directorate of Air Armament Engineering. He then moved to the headquarters of RAF Bomber Command to work on the introduction of

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, an ...

intercontinental ballistic missiles, before working at the missile testing range at Woomera in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. He then served at the V bomber base at

RAF Finningley Royal Air Force Finningley or RAF Finningley was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station at Finningley, in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The station straddled the historic county boundaries of both ...

. As a

wing commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

, he served at

RAF Biggin Hill London Biggin Hill Airport is an operational general aviation airport at Biggin Hill in the London Borough of Bromley, located south-southeast of Central London. The airport was formerly a Royal Air Force station RAF Biggin Hill, and a small ...

, involved in recruitment of officers and aircrew. Finally, promoted to group captain, he was the assistant director of air weapons development at the

Ministry of Technology The Ministry of Technology was a department of the government of the United Kingdom, sometimes abbreviated as "MinTech". The Ministry of Technology was established by the incoming government of Harold Wilson in October 1964 as part of Wilson's am ...

, and was involved with the UK's

Polaris ballistic missile The UGM-27 Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fuel rocket, solid-fueled nuclear warhead, nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). As the United States Navy's first SLBM, it served from 1961 to 1980. In the mid-1950s the Navy ...

programme.

Succession to earldom and House of Lords

Fox-Strangways succeeded as

on the death of his father in 1970. He retired from the RAF in 1976, having held every rank from

aircraft apprentice An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. ...

to group captain. In the House of Lords, he sat as a crossbencher from 1976, but waiting until 27 February 1980 to make his

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

. He attended regularly until the hereditary peers were removed from the Lords in 1999. He was a member of the Select committee on science and technology. Outside the House of Lords, he was a director of

Nottingham Building Society The Nottingham Building Society is a building society founded in 1849 by a group led by Samuel Fox (1781–1868), a Quaker and prominent local grocer. The purpose of the society was to promote the construction of a better class of dwellings, ...

from 1982 to 1989. He was active in the

RAF Association The Royal Air Forces Association (also called the RAF Association or RAFA) is the largest single service membership organization and the longest standing registered service charity that provides welfare support to the family of RAF members. Th ...

at Biggin Hill. He was president of the

Society of Engineers The Society of Engineers was a British learned society established in 1854. It was the first society to issue the professional title of Incorporated Engineer. It merged with the Institution of Incorporated Engineers (IIE) in 2005, and in 2006 the me ...

, and later a patron. He was a Fellow of the

Nuclear Institute The Nuclear Institute is the professional body representing nuclear professionals in the UK. It is a charity independent of the industry that promotes knowledge of nuclear energy amongst its members and the public and offers a route to professi ...

(formerly the Institute of Nuclear Engineers), and its president from 1982 to 1984. He was a

Freeman Freeman, free men, or variant, may refer to: * a member of the Third Estate in medieval society (commoners), see estates of the realm * Freeman, an apprentice who has been granted freedom of the company, was a rank within Livery companies * Free ...

of the

Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators The Honourable Company of Air Pilots, formerly the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators (GAPAN), is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Company was founded in 1929, and became a Livery Company in 1956. Elizabeth II granted ...

and became a liveryman in 1987. He was a Freemason in the St George and Corner Stone Lodge. He had no children, but was survived by his wife of over 64 years. On his death, the Earldom passed to his nephew, Robin Maurice Fox-Strangways, 10th 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 vi ...

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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ilchester, Maurice Fox-Strangways, 9th Earl Of 1920 births 2006 deaths Royal Air Force officers English engineers Earls of Ilchester

Maurice Maurice may refer to: People * Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr * Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...

Trenchard Brats Royal Air Force personnel of World War II

Ilchester Ilchester is a village and civil parish, situated on the River Yeo or Ivel, five miles north of Yeovil, in the English county of Somerset. Originally a Roman town, and later a market town, Ilchester has a rich medieval history and was a nota ...