Richard Fellowes Benyon (17 November 1811 – 26 July 1897), born Richard Fellowes, was a British
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 in ...
politician and civil servant.
Richard was born at
Haveringland Hall in
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
, the third son of
William Henry Fellowes
William Henry Fellowes (15 July 1769 – 23 August 1837), of Ramsey Abbey in Huntingdonshire and Haverland Hall in Norfolk, was a British people, British Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament.
Life
He was the eldest son o ...
of
Ramsey Abbey in
Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popu ...
and his wife, Emma, sister of
Richard Benyon De Beauvoir
Richard Benyon De Beauvoir (1769–1854) MP was a 19th-century British landowner, philanthropist and High Sheriff of Berkshire.
Background
He was born Richard Benyon in Westminster on 28 April 1769, one of four sons and five daughters of Richar ...
of
Englefield House
Englefield House is an Elizabethan country house with surrounding estate at Englefield in the English county of Berkshire. The gardens are open to the public all year round on particular weekdays and the house by appointment only for large ...
in
Berkshire.
He inherited this latter property (16,000 acres, worth 20,004 guineas rental per annum)
and its associated estates upon his uncle's death in 1854 and changed his name to Benyon.
Educated at
Charterhouse
Charterhouse may refer to:
* Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order
Charterhouse may also refer to:
Places
* The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery
* Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey
Londo ...
and
St. John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. The ...
, he was a member of
Boodle's
Boodle's is a London gentlemen's club, founded in January 1762, at No. 50 Pall Mall, London, by Lord Shelburne, the future Marquess of Lansdowne and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
History
The club was originally based next door to Wi ...
,
Carlton 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 in ...
London clubs.
In 1857 he was appointed
High Sheriff of Berkshire
The High Sheriff of Berkshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'.
The title of High Sheriff is therefore much older ...
, and was the Chairman of the County's
Quarter Sessions
The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388 (extending also to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535). They were also established in ...
in 1864. In 1860 he was elected the
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 o ...
for
Berkshire, a position he held until his resignation in 1876. He was a patron of the
Anti-Mendacity Society, the
National Society for School Furniture and the
Society for the Augmentation of Small Livings.
By his wife Elizabeth Mary Clutterbuck he had three daughters, and upon his death in 1897, his estates were inherited by his nephew,
James Herbert Benyon
James Herbert Benyon (born Fellowes; 1849–1935) was an early 20th-century Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire.
Early life
Born James Herbert Fellowes, he was the son of James Fellowes of Kingston Maurward House near Dorchester, Dorset who was th ...
. Meanwhile, his daughter Marion Emma had married Sir John Shelley, 9th Bt., and as a result of her cousins' own lack of sons with children, her younger son inherited Englefield in 1959. Thereby Richard Fellowes Benyon's great-grandson and eventual heir became Sir
William Richard Benyon, whose son
Richard Henry Ronald Benyon was MP for
Newbury from 2005 to 2019 and inherited Englefield House.
References
External links
*
Portraitat
Berkshire Record OfficeRoyal Berkshire History: Englefield House
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benyon, Richard Fellowes
1811 births
1897 deaths
Conservative MPs
High Sheriffs of Berkshire
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Berkshire
People from Englefield, Berkshire
People from Broadland (district)
UK MPs 1859–1865
UK MPs 1865–1868
UK MPs 1868–1874
UK MPs 1874–1880
People educated at Charterhouse School
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
Benyon family