Baron Forester, of Willey Park in the

County A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, is a title in the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great B ...

. It was created on 17 July 1821 for Cecil Weld-Forester, who had previously represented Wenlock in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

. Born Cecil Forester, he assumed the additional surname of Weld by royal licence in 1811. His son, the second Baron, also represented Wenlock from 1790 in Parliament, and later served in the Tory administration of

Sir Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850), was a British Conservative statesman who twice was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835, 1841–1846), and simultaneously was Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834–183 ...

Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

(Government

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom I ...

in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

) from 1841 to 1846. He was succeeded by his younger brother, the third Baron. He sat as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Member of Parliament for Wenlock for 46 years, and was

Father of the House Father of the House is a title that has been traditionally bestowed, unofficially, on certain members of some legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the title refers to the longest continuously ...

from 1873 to 1874. His nephew, the fifth baron, also represented Wenlock in Parliament as a

. Both his son, the sixth baron, and grandson, the seventh baron, served as mayor of Wenlock. , the title is held by the latter's grandson, the ninth baron, who succeeded his father in 2004. The family were anciently hereditary

foresters A forester is a person who practises forest management and forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including Restoration ecology, ecological restoration and management of Pr ...

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

Hay in Mount Gilbert Forest, and lived at Wellington or at Watling Street Hall (later Old hall), where they had a half

virgate The virgate, yardland, or yard of land ( was an English unit of land. Primarily a measure of tax assessment rather than area, the virgate was usually (but not always) reckoned as hide and notionally (but seldom exactly) equal to 30 acr ...

of land held by keeping the Hay. John Forester (died c. 1521) leased Wellington Hay from perhaps 1512, and another John Forester bought its freehold in 1555. The family became gentry and several of the family became Members of Parliament for Wenlock.

Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (born Lady Alice Christabel Montagu Douglas Scott; 25 December 1901 – 29 October 2004) was a member of the British royal family. She was the wife of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, the third son of King ...

, was a great-great-granddaughter of the 1st Baron Forester. The family seat since 1811 is Willey Hall, near

Willey, Shropshire Willey is a small village in the civil parish of Barrow, Shropshire, Barrow, south west of the town of Broseley, Shropshire, England. It is made up of about 4 farms and the majority of land is owned and leased by the Baron Forester, Weld-Foreste ...

. The estate was inherited by Brooke Forester through his wife, Elizabeth Weld, and has remained in the Weld-Forester family for over two centuries.

Predecessors

*Francis Forester (b. 1623) was

High Sheriff of Shropshire This is a list of sheriffs and high sheriffs of Shropshire The high sheriff, sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the high sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of t ...

in 1652. *

Sir William Forester ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part o ...

(1655–1718), his son, inherited Dothill from his half-brother, Richard Steventon (died 1659), in about 1675 and became a Member of Parliament in 1678. * William Forester (1690–1758), his son, served as MP for Wenlock (with substantial gaps) from 1715 until his death. * Brooke Forester (1717–1774), his eldest son was its member continuously from 1734 to 1761. He married the heiress of George Weld of Willey Park and inherited that estate. * Cecil Forester (–1774), the younger brother of Brooke Forester, held the same seat from 1761 to 1768, during a gap in George's representation of it, and he was the father of the 1st Lord Forester. * George Forester (1735–1811) sat for Wenlock (with gaps) from 1758 to 1790, when he was replaced by his cousin and heir, Cecil, later 1st Baron Forester. * Francis Forester (1774–1861), the younger son of Cecil Forester and brother to the 1st Baron Forester, held the same seat from 1820 to 1826.

Baron Forester (1821)

Cecil Weld-Forester, 1st Baron Forester Cecil Weld-Forester, 1st Baron Forester (baptised 7 April 1767 – 23 May 1828) was a Tory British Member of Parliament and later peer. Early life Born Cecil Forester and baptised at St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury, Editors Vicary Gibbs and H. A ...

(1767–1828) *

John George Weld Weld-Forester, 2nd Baron Forester John George Weld Weld-Forester, 2nd Baron Forester Privy Council of the United Kingdom, PC (9 August 1801 – 10 October 1874), was a British Tory (political faction), Tory politician. He served as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at- ...

(1801–1874) * George Cecil Weld Weld-Forester, 3rd Baron Forester (1807–1886) * Orlando Watkin Weld Weld-Forester, 4th Baron Forester (1813–1894) * Cecil Theodore Weld-Forester, 5th Baron Forester (1842–1917) *George Cecil Beaumont Weld-Forester, 6th Baron Forester (1867–1932), educated at

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, and served as a captain in the

Royal Horse Guards The Royal Regiment of Horse Guards, also known as the Blues, or abbreviated as RHG, was one of the cavalry regiments of the British Army and part of the Household Cavalry. In 1969, it was amalgamated with the 1st The Royal Dragoons to form the ...

, later gaining the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the

Shropshire Yeomanry The Shropshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1795, which served as a cavalry and dismounted infantry regiment in the First World War and as a cavalry and an artillery regiment in the Second World War. It w ...

; Mayor of Wenlock between 1920 and 1922. Succeeded as the 6th Baron on 20 November 1917. *Cecil George Wilfred Weld-Forester, 7th Baron Forester (1899–1977), served during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

as a lieutenant in the

Guards Machine Gun Regiment The Guards Machine Gun Regiment was a regiment of the British Army, formed for service in the First World War. When the Guards Division was formed in August 1915, it included three machine gun companies, with a fourth added in March 1917. In Ap ...

, educated for some time at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

(apparently without taking a degree), and eventually became colonel in the Royal Horse Guards. Succeeded as the 7th Baron on 10 October 1932. *George Cecil Brooke Weld-Forester, 8th Baron Forester (1938–2004), educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

and

Royal Agricultural College The Royal Agricultural University (RAU), formerly the Royal Agricultural College, is a public university in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England. Established in 1845, it was the first agricultural college in the English-speaking world. ...

. Succeeded as the 8th Baron on 4 January 1977. *Charles Richard George Weld-Forester, 9th Baron Forester (born 1975) The

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

is the present holder's son, the Hon. Brook George Percival Weld-Forester (born 2014).Peerage News. http://peeragenews.blogspot.co.uk

Male-line family tree

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forester Baronies in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Noble titles created in 1821 Peerages created for UK MPs *