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Viscount Ebrington Vanity Fair 19 February 1887

Hugh Fortescue, 4th Earl Fortescue (16 April 1854 – 29 October 1932), styled Viscount Ebrington from 1861 to 1905, was an English Liberal politician who sat 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 ...

from 1881 until 1892 and later 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 ...

having inherited his father's

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

s. He was a famous sportsman in the hunting-field.

Origins

Fortescue was the son of Hugh Fortescue, 3rd Earl Fortescue (1818–1905), whose main seat was Castle Hill, Filleigh, Devon, by his wife Lady Georgiana Augusta Charlotte Caroline Dawson-Damer, daughter of George Lionel Dawson-Damer and sister of Lionel Dawson-Damer, 4th Earl of Portarlington. He was known by his courtesy title of Viscount Ebrington until his father's death in 1905, when he inherited the earldom.

Career

Education

He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

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 ...

. At Cambridge, he was treasurer of the University Pitt Club.

Local career in Devon

He was a captain in the North Devon Hussar Yeoman Cavalry and became Colonel of the North Devon Yeomanry. He was a J.P. for Devon and for South Molton, the town close to the family seat of Castle Hill, Filleigh. He served as Deputy Lieutenant for Devon and was Lord-Lieutenant of Devon from 1903 to 1928. He was also Chairman of

Devon County Council Devon County Council is the county council administering the English county of Devon. The council is based at Devon County Hall in the city of Exeter. The area administered by the county council is termed the non-metropolitan county, which is ...

. He was Provincial Grand Master of Freemasons in Devon. He was Master of the

Devon and Somerset Staghounds The red deer of Exmoor have been hunted since Norman times, when Exmoor was declared a Royal Forest. Collyns stated the earliest record of a pack of Staghounds on Exmoor was 1598. In 1803, the "North Devon Staghounds" became a subscription pack. ...

National career

He was at one time private secretary to

Lord President of the Council The Lord President of the Council is the presiding officer of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the fourth of the Great Officers of State, ranking below the Lord High Treasurer but above the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. The Lor ...

Earl Spencer. He was ADC to King Edward VII from 1903 to 1910 and received a KCB in 1911. He was ADC to

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

from 1910 to 1921. He served as president and chairman of the Territorial Force Advisory Council.

Parliamentary career

In 1881 Fortescue was elected as a Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Tiverton and held the seat until 1885 when representation was reduced to one member under the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 23) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (sometimes called the "Reform Act of 1885"). It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that r ...

. In 1885 he was elected MP for Tavistock. When the Liberals split in 1886 over

Home Rule Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governan ...

for Ireland, he joined the breakaway Liberal Unionists. He held the seat until 1892.

Purchases Exmoor Forest

When Viscount Ebrington he purchased the reversion of about 20,000 acres comprising the former

royal forest A royal forest, occasionally known as a kingswood (), is an area of land with different definitions in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The term ''forest'' in the ordinary modern understanding refers to an area of wooded land; however, the ...

Exmoor Exmoor () is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simons ...

from Sir Frederick Knight (1812–1897) who with his father John Knight (d.1851) had introduced livestock farming to that previously undeveloped and barren moorland. Following the early death of Knight's son Frederick Sebright Winn Knight (1851–1879) in 1879 aged 28, Knight sold the reversion of Exmoor Forest to Ebrington, that is to say he retained a life interest. Ebrington used the residence constructed by James Boevey in 1654 at

Simonsbath Simonsbath () is a small village high on Exmoor in the England, English ceremonial county, county of Somerset. It is the principal settlement in the Exmoor civil parish, which is the largest and most sparsely populated civil parish on Exmoo ...

, ten miles NE of Castle Hill, as a hunting lodge and for his work in continuing agricultural development. He instituted an annual horse show at Exford, which helped to increase the quality of hunters used on Exmoor.Evered, Philip. Staghunting with the Devon and Somerset, An Account of the Chase of the Wild Red Deer, 1902, p.270
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Death and burial

He died at the age of 78.

Marriage and children

Fortescue married his cousin, Hon. Emily Ormsby-Gore, daughter of William Ormsby-Gore, 2nd Baron Harlech, on 15 July 1886. They had three children: * Hugh William Fortescue, 5th Earl Fortescue (1888–1958) *Geoffrey Faithful Fortescue (1891–1900), died young. * Denzil George Fortescue, 6th Earl Fortescue (1893–1977)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fortescue, Hugh Fortescue, 4th Earl 1854 births 1932 deaths People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Fortescue,4 Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Lord-lieutenants of Devon Ebrington, Hugh Fortescue, Viscount Ebrington, Hugh Fortescue, Viscount Ebrington, Hugh Fortescue, Viscount Ebrington, Hugh Fortescue, Viscount Ebrington, Hugh Fortescue, Viscount UK MPs who inherited peerages Members of Devon County Council Royal North Devon Yeomanry officers Hugh,4 Liberal Unionist Party peers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Tavistock Volunteer Force officers Military personnel from Devon 19th-century British Army personnel