General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

William Lygon Pakenham, 4th Earl of Longford (31 January 1819 – 19 April 1887), styled The Honourable William Pakenham before 1860, was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

soldier 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.

Early life and education

Pakenham was the second son of

Thomas Pakenham, 2nd Earl of Longford Thomas Pakenham, 2nd Earl of Longford, (14 May 1774 – 28 May 1835), known as The Lord Longford between 1792 and 1794, was an Anglo-Irish peer. Background Pakenham was the eldest son of Edward Pakenham, 2nd Baron Longford, by Catherine Rowley ...

, by Lady Georgiana Emma Charlotte Lygon, daughter of

William Lygon, 1st Earl Beauchamp William Lygon, 1st Earl Beauchamp (25 July 1747 – 21 October 1816), known as Lord Beauchamp of Powyke between 1806 and 1815, was a British politician. Early life Lygon was the son of Reginald Lygon (originally Reginald Pyndar), of Madresfiel ...

. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

and entered the army in 1837. A year prior to his entry into the army, Pakenham played a single

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

match for the Gentlemen in the

Gentlemen v Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of English first-class cricket matches. Two matches were played in 1806, but the fixture was not played again until 1819. It became an annual event, usually played at least twice each season, exc ...

fixture of 1836 at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

. He, however, had no success in the match, twice being dismissed without scoring.

Military career

After service in both the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

and the

Indian Rebellion The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

, Pakenham became Adjutant-General in India in November 1858. He was also

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

of the

Northumberland Fusiliers The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1674 as one of three 'English' units in the Dutch Anglo-Scots Brigade, it accompanied William III to England in the November 1688 Glorious Revolution an ...

from 1878 to his death.

Public life

He succeeded in the earldom in 1860 on the death of his elder brother, the third Earl and was created KCB in 1861. He sat on the Conservative benches 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 served as

Under-Secretary of State for War The position of Under-Secretary of State for War was a British government position, first applied to Evan Nepean (appointed in 1794). In 1801 the offices for War and the Colonies were merged and the post became that of Under-Secretary of State for ...

from 1866 to 1868 under first the Earl of Derby and later

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...

. In February 1870 he was voted chairman of the ''Central Protestant Defence Association'' which was established in response to the

Irish Church Act 1869 The Irish Church Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict. c. 42) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which separated the Church of Ireland from the Church of England and disestablished the former, a body that commanded the adherence of a small min ...

. He also served as

Lord Lieutenant of Longford This is a list of people who have served as Lord-Lieutenant of Longford. There were lieutenants of counties in Ireland until the reign of James II, when they were renamed governors. The office of Lord Lieutenant was recreated on 23 August 1831. ...

from 1874 to 1887. In

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, he was a member of the

Kildare Street Club The Kildare Street Club is a historical member's club in Dublin, Ireland, at the heart of the Anglo-Irish Protestant Ascendancy. The Club remained in Kildare Street between 1782 and 1977, when it merged with the Dublin University Club to become ...

. He was created KCB in the 1861 Birthday Honours and GCB in the 1881 Birthday Honours.

Family

Lord Longford married the Honourable Selina Rice-Trevor, daughter of

George Rice-Trevor, 4th Baron Dynevor George Rice-Trevor, 4th Baron Dynevor (5 August 1795 – 7 October 1869) was a British politician and peer. Early life He was the son of George Talbot Rice, 3rd Baron Dynevor. Dynevor matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford 13 October 1812; he ...

, in 1862. They had four surviving children: Thomas, Lord Pakenham, the Hon. Edward Michael, Lady Georgiana Frances Henrietta (wife of

Hugh Gough, 3rd Viscount Gough Hugh Gough, 3rd Viscount Gough (27 August 1849 – 14 October 1919), he was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford (MA). In June 1901, Lord Gough was appointed British Minister Resident at the Court of the Kingdom of Saxony and the Duchy of ...

) and Lady Catherine Louisa (mother of

William Fletcher-Vane, 1st Baron Inglewood William Morgan Fletcher-Vane, 1st Baron Inglewood, TD (12 April 1909 – 22 June 1989), was a British Conservative Party politician. Early life Inglewood was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon. William Lyonel Vane, a descendant of Gilbert Va ...

). Lord Longford died in April 1887, aged 68, and was succeeded in the earldom by his second but eldest surviving son. His grandson

Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford, 1st Baron Pakenham, Baron Pakenham of Cowley, (5 December 1905 – 3 August 2001), known to his family as Frank Longford and styled Lord Pakenham from 1945 to 1961, was a British politician and ...

, became a prominent

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

politician. The Countess of Longford survived her husband by over thirty years and died in January 1918, aged 81.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Longford, William Pakenhem, 4th Earl 1819 births 1887 deaths Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers Lord-Lieutenants of Longford Royal Northumberland Fusiliers officers

William 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 ...

Companions of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath 4 English cricketers Gentlemen cricketers