Steven-Fox-Strangways-First-Earl-of-Ilchester-Put-1730-1860

Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st

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 t ...

PC (12 September 1704 – 26 September 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 bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Origins

Fox was the eldest surviving son of Sir

Stephen Fox Sir Stephen Fox (27 March 1627 – 28 October 1716) of Farley in Wiltshire, of Redlynch Park in Somerset, of Chiswick, Middlesex and of Whitehall, was a royal administrator and courtier to King Charles II, and a politician, who rose from ...

(1627-1716), the first

Paymaster of the Forces The Paymaster of the Forces was a position in the British government. The office was established in 1661, one year after the Restoration (1660), Restoration of the Monarchy to King Charles II, and was responsible for part of the financing of t ...

, deemed the "richest commoner in the

three kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...

", by his second wife Christiana Hope. His younger brother was Henry Fox, who was created

Baron Holland Baron Holland, of Holland in the County of Lincoln, and Baron Holland of Foxley, of Foxley in the County of Wiltshire, were two titles in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first barony was created on 7 March 1762 for Lady Caroline Fox, the dau ...

, of

Holland House Holland House, originally known as Cope Castle, was an early Jacobean country house in Kensington, London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, the father of the Whig statesman

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 ...

Career

He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, then took a

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

. On his father's death in 1716, he inherited (among other estates) Redlynch Park in Somerset, where he improved both the house and gardens. He purchased further land in Wiltshire and Somerset. His father had been appointed to the lucrative post of Paymaster of the Forces under King Charles II, from which post he had made his huge fortune. In 1726 Fox was elected as a

for

Shaftesbury Shaftesbury () is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is situated on the A30 road, west of Salisbury, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset, being built about above sea level on a ...

in Dorset, a seat he held until 1741, when he was raised to the

peerage of Great Britain The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain between the Acts of Union 1707 and the Acts of Union 1800. It replaced the Peerage of England and the Peerage of Scotland, but was itself r ...

and joined 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 ...

as ''Baron Ilchester of Ilchester in the County of Somerset'' and ''Baron Strangways of Woodford in the County of Dorset''; In 1747 he was created ''Baron Ilchester and Stavordale of Redlynch, in the County of Somerset'', with

special remainder In property law of the United Kingdom and the United States and other common law countries, a remainder is a future interest given to a person (who is referred to as the transferee or remainderman) that is capable of becoming possessory upon the n ...

in default of male issue of his own to his younger brother Henry Fox, and in 1756 was further honoured when he was made ''

'', with the same special remainder. In 1763 he was admitted to 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 ...

Private life

180px, John Hervey Fox was the lover of the diarist and courtier

John Hervey John Hervey may refer to: *John Hervey (c.1353-c.1411), MP for Bedfordshire (UK Parliament constituency), Bedfordshire *John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol (1665–1751), Member of Parliament (MP) for Bury St Edmunds *John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey (16 ...

(1696–1743) for about ten years, from 1726 to 1736. Many passionate letters between the two survive. Hervey initially favoured Fox's brother, Henry Fox, but when "charmingly rebuffed" paid infatuated court to Fox. Their relationship ended about the time Fox entered into an

arranged marriage Arranged marriage is a type of marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures a professional matchmaker may be us ...

. ;Marriage and children In 1735, at the age of 31, Fox agreed to an arranged marriage with the thirteen-year-old

Elizabeth Fox, Countess of Ilchester Elizabeth Fox (or Fox-Strangways), Countess of Ilchester (c.1723–1792), née Elizabeth Horner, was the wife of Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of Ilchester. Life She was the only child and sole heiress of Thomas Horner (1688-1741) (lat ...

, daughter and sole heiress of

Thomas Strangways Horner Thomas Strangways Horner ( Horner; 1688–1741), of Mells, Somerset and Melbury, Dorset, was a British landowner and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1713 and 1741. Horner was baptized on 3 July 1688, the second, but eldes ...

(1688–1741), a landowner and member of parliament, of

Mells Manor Mells Manor at Mells, Somerset, England, was built in the 16th century for Edward Horner, altered in the 17th century, partially demolished around 1780, and restored by Sir Edwin Lutyens in the 20th century. The house, along with the garden walls ...

in Somerset,

Sheriff of Somerset The office of High Sheriff of Somerset is an ancient shrievalty which has been in existence since the 11th century. Originally known as the "Sheriff of Somerset", the role was retitled on 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government ...

in 1711/12,Horner, Thomas
historyofparliamentonline.org by his wife Susanna Strangways, a daughter of Thomas Strangways (1643–1713), of Melbury House, and eventual sole heiress of her brother Thomas Strangways (d. 1726). In accordance with the terms of his wife's inheritance from her childless brother in 1726, Thomas Horner had adopted for himself and his descendants the surname and arms of Strangways. The marriage was arranged secretly by the bride's mother Susanna Strangways, whose "paramour" was Henry Fox, Stephen's younger brother. Thomas Horner objected strongly to the marriage (which his wife denied him any involvement in arranging), not only because he considered his daughter too young, but also because he opposed the Whig politics of the Fox family. His manor of Mells passed by

tail male In English common law, fee tail or entail is a form of trust established by deed or settlement which restricts the sale or inheritance of an estate in real property and prevents the property from being sold, devised by will, or otherwise alien ...

to his younger brother. In 1758, Stephen Fox also assumed the additional surname and arms of Strangways, in accordance with the terms of his wife's inheritance. By his wife he had the following children: CharlesJamesFox ByJoshuaReynolds

*Lady Susannah Sarah Louisa Fox-Strangways (1 February 1743 – 1827), known as "Susan". She was the childhood object of affection of her first cousin the future Whig statesman

(1749–1806), who in 1760 when a schoolboy at Eton, composed a prize-winning Latin verse describing a pigeon he found to deliver his love-letters to her "to please both Venus its mistress and him". The scenario was captured in a painting by Sir

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

. The young Charles was however very disappointed when in 1764 she eloped with the "unsuccessful" Irish actor

William O'Brien William O'Brien (2 October 1852 – 25 February 1928) was an Irish nationalist, journalist, agrarian agitator, social revolutionary, politician, party leader, newspaper publisher, author and Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of ...

. The match caused a scandal in high society, with

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

commenting: "Even a

footman A footman is a male domestic worker employed mainly to wait at table or attend a coach or carriage. Etymology Originally in the 14th century a footman denoted a soldier or any pedestrian, later it indicated a foot servant. A running footman deli ...

were preferable — the publicity of the hero's profession perpetuates the mortification". *Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Fox-Strangways (b. 11 March 1744); *Lady Juliana Judith Fox-Strangways (b. 10 July 1745); *

Henry Thomas Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester 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. Life Ilchester was the eldest son of Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Ea ...

(29 July 1747 – 5 September 1802); *Lady Lucy Fox-Strangways (15 December 1748 – 16 August 1787), married Colonel Stephen Digby; LadyHarrietAcland OnHudsonRiver

* Lady Christian Henrietta Carolina Fox-Strangways, called Harriet (3 January 1750 – 21 July 1815), who in 1770 married Colonel

John Dyke Acland Colonel John Dyke Acland (18 February 1746 – 31 October 1778), of Tetton and Pixton in Somerset, was Tory Member of Parliament for Callington in Cornwall and fought in the American War of Independence in 1776.Chambers Biographical Diction ...

(1746–1778) of Tetton and Pixton in Somerset, a

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

for

Callington Callington ( kw, Kelliwik) is a civil parish and town in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom about north of Saltash and south of Launceston. Callington parish had a population of 4,783 in 2001, according to the 2001 census. This had inc ...

in Cornwall, a major landowner in the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...

who due to his traditional Tory opinions was considered a "provincial boor" by the Fox family's Whig set that gathered at Holland House. She was a heroic figure who accompanied her husband whilst he was fighting in the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, and there crossed the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

into enemy lines to nurse him after he was wounded, which scene was later recorded in a painting exhibited in the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

. Their daughter and only surviving child Kitty Acland married

Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon Colonel (United Kingdom), Colonel Henry George Herbert, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon Deputy Lieutenant, DL, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, FSA (3 June 1772 – 16 April 1833), styled The Honourable Henry Herbert from 1780 to 1793 and Lo ...

(1772–1833). *Lt.-Col. Stephen Strangways Digby Fox-Strangways (3 December 1751 – 12 March 1836);''The Register of Births & Baptisms in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster Vol. IV. 1741-1760''. 4 December 1751. *Lady Frances Muriel Fox-Strangways (August 1755 – 5 May 1814), who married

Valentine Quin, 1st Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl Valentine Richard Quin, 1st Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl, 1st Baronet (30 July 1752 – 24 August 1824) was an Irish Peer and MP. He was the son of Windham Quin and Frances Dawson. The Quins were an old Irish family who had long been associat ...

; *Rev. Charles Redlynch Fox-Strangways (27 April 1761 – 4 November 1836), who married Jane Haines;

Death and burial

Fox died in September 1776, aged 72, and was succeeded by his son

Fictitious depictions

Stephen Fox appears as "Stephen

Reynard Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, as ...

", later Lord Ivell and Earl of Wessex, in the short story "The First Countess of Wessex" by

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...

, collected in ''

A Group of Noble Dames ''A Group of Noble Dames'' is an 1891 collection of short stories written by English author Thomas Hardy. The stories are contained by a frame narrative in which ten members of a club each tell one story about a noble dame in the 17th or 18th cent ...

''.

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 vis ...

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

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990 *Tillyard, Stella. "Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa and Sarah Lennox, 1740-1832" , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ilchester, Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of 1704 births 1776 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford 18th-century LGBT people Earls of Ilchester Peers of Great Britain created by George II

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

LGBT politicians from England Fox-Strangways, Stephen LGBT members of the Parliament of Great Britain British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 Fox-Strangways, Stephen LGBT peers