Sir Thomas George Fermor-Hesketh, 7th Baronet (9 May 1849 – 19 April 1924) was a British

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

and soldier.

Early life

Born Thomas George Hesketh, he was the second son of

Sir Thomas Fermor-Hesketh, 5th Baronet Sir Thomas George Fermor-Hesketh, 5th Baronet (11 January 1825 – 20 August 1872) was an English Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1862 to 1872. Early life Hesketh was the only son of Sir Thomas Hesketh, 4th Baronet ...

, and Lady Anna Maria Isabella Fermor, daughter of Thomas Fermor, 4th Earl of Pomfret. In 1867 he and his father assumed by Royal licence the additional surname of Fermor and in 1876 he succeeded his elder brother as 7th

Baronet of Rufford Baron Hesketh, of Hesketh in the County Palatine of Lancaster, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1935 for Sir Thomas Fermor-Hesketh, 8th Baronet, who had previously briefly represented Enfield in the House of Co ...

Career

Fermor-Hesketh was commissioned as a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

. In January 1879 he started a world cruise in his newly constructed steam auxiliary yacht ''Lancashire Witch''. After he left Madeira en route to Montevideo news arrived there of the British defeat at the

Battle of Isandlwana The Battle of Isandlwana (alternative spelling: Isandhlwana) on 22 January 1879 was the first major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Eleven days after the British invaded the Zulu Kingdom, Zululand ...

in the

Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in present-day South Africa from January to early July 1879 between forces of the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Two famous battles of the war were the Zulu victory at Battle of Isandlwana, Isandlwana and th ...

. The news eventually caught up with him at Sandy Point (

Punta Arenas Punta Arenas (, historically known as Sandy Point in English) is the capital List of cities in Chile, city of Chile's southernmost Regions of Chile, region, Magallanes Region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. Although officially renamed as ...

) in late March and he immediately set sail for Natal via the Falklands. He offered his services to the army and became ADC to

Redvers Buller General Sir Redvers Henry Buller, (7 December 1839 – 2 June 1908) was a British Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He served as Commander-in-Chief ...

, becoming involved in mounted action at the

Battle of Ulundi The Battle of Ulundi took place at the Zulu capital of Ulundi () on 4 July 1879 and was the last battle of the Anglo-Zulu War. The British Army broke the military power of the Zulu Kingdom by defeating the main Zulu army and capturing and bu ...

. He was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 4th (2nd Royal Lancashire Militia) Battalion, King's (Liverpool Regiment) in 1881, and continued in that role until his death. After the war Sir Thomas continued his world cruise and in 1880 was instrumental in the attempted rescue at sea off the coast of Mexico of a number of citizens of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. In recognition of this, he was honoured by the city, and at a party in his honour. In 1881 he was appointed

high Sheriff of Northamptonshire This is a list of the High Sheriffs of Northamptonshire. The High 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 the respon ...

Personal life

While in San Francisco, Sir Thomas came to the attention of the San Francisco heiress Florence Emily Sharon (1858–1924). Florence was the daughter of

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

William Sharon William Tang Sharon (January 9, 1821November 13, 1885) was a United States senator, banker, and business owner from Nevada who profited from the Comstock Lode. Early life Sharon was born in Smithfield, Ohio, January 9, 1821, the son of Willia ...

, who had made an enormous fortune in the gold, silver, banking and hotel business in California and Nevada. The first United States Senator from Nevada, Sharon was also the wealthiest man in the state. By the early 1880s, his empire was such that he was the largest single taxpayer in California. The two were married on 22 December 1880 at the

Ralston Hall Ralston Hall Mansion located in Belmont, California, was the country house of William Chapman Ralston, a San Francisco businessman, a founder of the Bank of California, and a financier of the Comstock Lode. It is an opulent Italianate Villa, ...

Mansion of

Belmont, California Belmont is a city in San Mateo County in the U.S. state of California. It is in the San Francisco Bay Area, on the San Francisco Peninsula about halfway between San Francisco and San Jose. It was originally part of Rancho de las Pulgas, f ...

, Together, they had two sons: *

Thomas Fermor-Hesketh, 1st Baron Hesketh Thomas Fermor-Hesketh, 1st Baron Hesketh (17 November 1881 – 20 July 1944), known as Sir Thomas Fermor-Hesketh, Bt, from 1924 to 1935, was a British peer, soldier and Conservative Member of Parliament. Early life Hesketh was the son of Sir ...

(1881–1944), who also married an American heiress, Florence Louise Breckinridge, a daughter of

John Witherspoon Breckinridge John Witherspoon "Owen" Breckinridge (December 22, 1850 – May 9, 1892) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the California State Assembly. Early life Breckinridge was born on December 22, 1850, in Lexington, Kentucky, in the prom ...

(son of

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

John C. Breckinridge John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16, 1821 – May 17, 1875) was an American politician who served as the 14th vice president of the United States, with President James Buchanan, from 1857 to 1861. Assuming office at the age of 36, Breckinrid ...

) and the former Louise (née Tevis) (a daughter of banker Lloyd Tevis). After her parents divorced, her mother married Frederick W. Sharon, the brother of Sir Thomas' wife. * Frederick Fermor-Hesketh (1883–1910), who went missing in 1910. When his father-in-law died in 1885, he left one third of his estate to his daughter Florence in a trust administered by her brother Frederick and brother-in-law Francis G. Newlands. When the trust expired, her part of the fortune passed to the Fermor-Hesketh family. They lived in Rufford Hall,

Ormskirk Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. It is located north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, Merseyside, St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. Ormski ...

, Lancashire. Fermor-Hesketh died on 19 April 1924 aged 74, and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

, who in 1935 was elevated to the peerage as Baron Hesketh. Lady Fermor-Hesketh died after falling down the stairs while visiting

Euston Hall Euston Hall is a country house, with park by William Kent and Capability Brown, in Euston, a small village in Suffolk, England, just south of Thetford. It is the family home of the Dukes of Grafton. The Hall Euston first appears in the Domesd ...

in September 1924.

Legacy

Hesketh Island,

Kachemak Bay Kachemak Bay ( Dena'ina: ''Tika Kaq’'') is a 40-mi-long (64 km) arm of Cook Inlet in the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southwest side of the Kenai Peninsula. The communities of Homer, Halibut Cove, Seldovia, Nanwalek, Port Gra ...

Cook Inlet Cook Inlet (; Sugpiaq language, Sugpiaq: ''Cungaaciq'') stretches from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage, Alaska, Anchorage in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding ...

, Alaska was named after Sir Thomas following his visit to the area in his yacht ''Lancashire Witch'' in 1880.

References

External links

Sir Thomas George Fermor-Hesketh, 7th Baronet Hesketh of Rufford (1849-1924), on his horse 'Captain Jack'
by A. Jules Imschoot. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fermor-Hesketh, Thomas George 1849 births 1924 deaths High sheriffs of Northamptonshire Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain Rifle Brigade officers