Henry Digby, 1st Earl Digby (21 July 1731 – 25 September 1793), was a British peer and Member of Parliament.

Early life

Digby was the younger son of Charlotte Fox and Hon. Edward Digby, a Member of Parliament for Warwickshire from 1726 to 1746. His elder brother was

Edward Digby, 6th Baron Digby Edward Digby, 6th Baron Digby (5 July 1730 – 30 November 1757), was a British peer and Member of Parliament. Digby was the son of Hon. Edward Digby, son of William Digby, 5th Baron Digby. His mother was Charlotte Fox, daughter of Sir Stephe ...

, a

Groom of the Bedchamber Groom of the Chamber was a position in the Royal Household, Household of the monarch in early modern Kingdom of England, England. Other ''Ancien Régime'' royal establishments in Europe had comparable officers, often with similar titles. In King ...

to the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

from 1751 to 1753. His paternal grandparents were William Digby, 5th Baron Digby, and Lady Jane Noel (second daughter of

Edward Noel, 1st Earl of Gainsborough Edward Noel, 1st Earl of Gainsborough, 4th Viscount Campden (1641 – January 1689) was an English peerage, peer, styled Hon. Edward Noel from 1660 to 1681. Origins Edward Noel was born in 1641, the son and heir of Baptist Noel, 3rd Viscount C ...

, and Lady Elizabeth Wriothesley, the eldest daughter and co-heiress of

Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, KG ( ; 10 March 1607 – 16 May 1667), styled Lord Wriothesley before 1624, was an English statesman, a staunch supporter of King Charles II who after the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 ...

). His mother was the daughter of

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

Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, PC (28 September 1705 – 1 July 1774) was an English peer and Whig politician who served as the Secretary at War from 1746 to 1755. He also held the offices of Secretary of State for the Southern Department f ...

, was his uncle and

Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a British British Whig Party, Whig politician and statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centurie ...

his cousin.

Career

Digby was elected to 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 ...

for Ludgershall in 1755, a seat he held until 1761, and then represented Wells between 1761 and 1765. From 1763 to 1765, he was a

Lord of the Admiralty This is a list of lords commissioners of the Admiralty (incomplete before the Restoration, 1660). The lords commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of the Board of Admiralty, which exercised the office of Lord High Admiral when it was ...

. In 1757 he succeeded his elder brother

Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...

as the 7th Baron Digby but as this was an

Irish peerage The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

it did not entitle him to sit in the

British 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, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest extant institutions in the world, its origi ...

and did not force him to resign his seat in the House of Commons. It did however give him ownership of the family seat of

Sherborne Castle Sherborne Castle (sometimes called Sherborne New Castle) is a 16th-century Tudor mansion southeast of Sherborne Sherborne is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited ...

. In 1765 Digby was created Baron Digby, of Sherborne in the County of Dorset, in 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 repla ...

with remainder to the male issue of his father. He had then to give up his seat in the Commons and join his peers in the Lords. From 1771 to 1793 Lord Digby served as

Lord Lieutenant of Dorset The Lord Lieutenant is the monarch's representative in the English county of Dorset. The office of the Lord Lieutenant was created during the reign of Henry VIII (1509–1547), taking over the military duties of the Sheriff of Dorset and contro ...

. In 1790 he was further honoured when he was Viscount Coleshill and Earl Digby in the Peerage of Great Britain, with remainder to his heirs male.

Personal life

On 5 September 1763, Lord Digby married Elizabeth Feilding, a daughter of Hon. Charles Feilding (a son of

Basil Feilding, 4th Earl of Denbigh Basil Feilding, 4th Earl of Denbigh, 3rd Earl of Desmond (1668 – 18 March 1717), styled Viscount Feilding from 1675 to 1685, was an Anglo-Irish peer and courtier. Peerage Feilding inherited the English Earldom of Denbigh and the Irish Ear ...

and Hester Firebrace, eldest daughter and heiress of

Sir Basil Firebrace, 1st Baronet Sir Basil Firebrace, 1st Baronet (1652 – 7 May 1724) was a supplier of wines to the royal household, Sheriff of London, and MP for Chippenham, Wiltshire, from 1690 to 1692. He was prosecuted for fraud and bribery, acquitted, and created a baro ...

) and Anne (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Palmer) Bridges (the widow of Sir Brook Bridges, 2nd Baronet and daughter, and co-heiress of

Sir Thomas Palmer, 4th Baronet, of Wingham Sir Thomas Palmer, 4th Baronet, of Wingham (5 July 1682 – 8 November 1723) was a British landowner and Whig politician who sat in the British House of Commons, House of Commons between 1708 and 1723. Early life Palmer was the eldest son of He ...

). Together, they had one son: * Hon. Edward Digby (1764–1764), who died in infancy. After his first wife's death in 1765 he married, secondly, Mary Knowler, daughter of John Knowler Recorder of Canterbury, on 10 November 1770. They had five children: * Lady Charlotte Digby (1772–1807), married William Wingfield, MP for

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordered ...

, in 1796. *

Edward Digby, 2nd Earl Digby Edward Digby, 2nd Earl Digby (6 January 1773 – 12 May 1856), known as Viscount Coleshill from 1790 to 1793, was a British peer. Digby was the eldest son of Henry Digby, 1st Earl Digby, and Mary Knowler. He succeeded his father in the earldom in ...

(1773–1856), who served as Lord Lieutenant of Dorset from 1808 to 1856. * Hon. Henry Digby (1774–1776), who died in infancy. * Hon. Rev. Robert Digby (1775–1830), the rector of Sheldon and vicar of Coleshill. * Hon. Stephen Digby (1776–1795), who died young. Lord Digby died in September 1793, aged 62, and was succeeded in his title by his eldest son

. Countess Digby died in 1794. As his eldest son died unmarried and without issue in 1856, the viscountcy and earldom became extinct and the barony passed to his cousin, Edward St Vincent Digby.

References

Coat of arms

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Digby, Edward Digby, 1st Earl 1731 births 1793 deaths Lord-lieutenants of Dorset Lords of the Admiralty Hereditary peers elected to the House of Commons Digby, Edward Digby, 7th Baron British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

Peers of Great Britain created by George III