William Bagot, 4th Baron Bagot JP (19 January 1857 – 23 December 1932), was a British peer and

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 ...

politician and art collector.

Early life

Bagot was the eldest son of two sons and five daughters born to

William Bagot, 3rd Baron Bagot William Bagot, 3rd Baron Bagot DL (27 March 1811 – 19 January 1887), styled The Honourable from birth until 1856, was a British courtier and Conservative politician. Background Born at Blithfield House, he was the eldest son of William Bago ...

, and his wife, the former Hon. Lucia Caroline Elizabeth Agar-Ellis. His mother was a daughter of

George Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron Dover George James Welbore Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron Dover (14 January 1797 – 10 July 1833) was a British politician and man of letters. He was briefly First Commissioner of Woods and Forests under Lord Grey between 1830 and 1831. Background and edu ...

and his sister, Louisa Bagot, married Hamar Alfred Bass of the

Bass Brewery Bass Brewery () was founded in 1777 by William Bass in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The main brand was Bass Pale Ale, once the highest-selling beer in the UK. By 1877, Bass had become the largest brewery in the world, with an an ...

family in 1879. His paternal grandparents were William Bagot, 2nd Baron Bagot and his second wife Lady Louisa Legge (daughter of

George Legge, 3rd Earl of Dartmouth George Legge, 3rd Earl of Dartmouth (3 October 1755 – 10 November 1810), styled Viscount Lewisham until 1801, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1778 to 1784. Background George Legge, known from birth as Viscount ...

).''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage,'' 100th Edn, London, 1953: 'Bagot'. Bagot was 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 ...

.Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.

Career

On 14 April 1875 he was commissioned as a sub-lieutenant in the

Staffordshire Yeomanry The Staffordshire Yeomanry (Queen's Own Royal Regiment) was a mounted auxiliary unit of the British Army raised in 1794 to defend Great Britain from foreign invasion. It continued in service after the Napoleonic Wars, frequently being called out ...

, of which his father was the honorary colonel. On 4 December the same year he was commissioned in the same rank into the 2nd Battalion,

King's Own (1st Staffordshire) Militia The King's Own (1st Staffordshire) Militia, later the 3rd and 4th Battalions, South Staffordshire Regiment was an auxiliary regiment in Staffordshire in the West Midlands of England. From 1662, and again after 1777, the regiment's primary role w ...

. Both of these were part-time regiments. He served as an aide-de-camp to the

governor general of Canada The governor general of Canada () is the federal representative of the . The monarch of Canada is also sovereign and head of state of 14 other Commonwealth realms and resides in the United Kingdom. The monarch, on the Advice (constitutional la ...

from 1876 to 1883. He was promoted to

captain 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 ...

in the 4th Battalion,

South Staffordshire Regiment The South Staffordshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for only 68 years. The regiment was created in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot a ...

(as the militia had become) on 19 July 1879 and in the Staffordshire Yeomanry on 21 February 1880. He resigned from the militia on 29 March 1884, but remained in the yeomanry, being promoted to

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

on 11 May 1898. He later received the honorary rank of lieutenant-colonel and was second-in-command of the regiment, retiring on 30 November 1901. Bagot also held the office of

Gentleman Usher of the Privy Chamber Gentleman Usher and Lady Usher are titles for some officers of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. For a list of office-holders from the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 up to the present day see List of Lady and Gentleman Ushers. Gen ...

from 1885 to 1887 and was a justice of the peace and deputy lieutenant for

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

and

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

. Between 1896 and 1901 he served as a

Lord-in-waiting Lords-in-waiting (male) or baronesses-in-waiting (female) are peers who hold office in the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. In the official Court Circular they are styled "Lord in Waiting" or "Baroness in Waiting" (without ...

(government whip 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 ...

) in the Conservative administration of

Lord Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903), known as Lord Salisbury, was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United ...

Personal life

On 25 July 1903, Lord Bagot married the American Lilian Marie May (1863–1958) at

Brompton Oratory Brompton Oratory, also known as the London Oratory, is a neo-classical late-Victorian Catholic parish church in the Brompton area of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, neighbouring Knightsbridge, London. Its name stems from Oratorian ...

. She was the youngest daughter of the late Henry May, a

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

from Maryland. The couple separated shortly after the christening of their only child, a daughter: * Hon. Barbara Bagot (b. 1905), who married in Oscar Crosby Sewall, son of Oscar Trufant Sewall, of

Bath, Maine Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States. Bath is included in the Brunswick, Maine, Brunswick Micropolitan statistical area, micropolitan area. Bath has a 2024 population of 8,870. It is also the county seat of Sagadahoc County ...

, United States, in June 1934; they divorced in 1945 and he remarried in 1950 to Patricia Leighton Wilkins. Lord Bagot was an art collector and owned paintings by

Sir Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter who specialised in portraits. The art critic John Russell (art critic), John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century, while Lucy P ...

Sir Peter Lely Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 30 November 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. He became a naturalised British subject and was kn ...

Veronese Veronese is the Italian word denoting someone or something from Verona, Italy and may refer to: * Veronese Riddle, a popular riddle in the Middle Ages * Veronese (moth), ''Veronese'' (moth), a moth genus in the family Crambidae * Monte Veronese, ...

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of ...

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo Bartolomé Esteban Murillo ( , ; late December 1617, baptized January 1, 1618April 3, 1682) was a Spanish Baroque painter. Although he is best known for his religious works, Murillo also produced a considerable number of paintings of contempor ...

Le Nain The three Le Nain brothers were painters in 17th-century France: Antoine Le Nain (c.1600–1648), Louis Le Nain (c.1603–1648), and Mathieu Le Nain (1607–1677). They produced genre works, portraits and portrait miniatures. Lives and work T ...

Frans Hals Frans Hals the Elder (, ; ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He lived and worked in Haarlem, a city in which the local authority of the day frowned on religious painting in places of worship but citizens liked to decorate thei ...

van Eyck Van Eyck or Van Eijk () is a Dutch language, Dutch toponymic surname. ''Eijck'', ''Eyck'', ''Eyk'' and ''Eijk'' are all archaic spellings of modern Dutch ("oak") and the surname literally translates as "from/of oak". However, in most cases, the fam ...

, and valuable relics of the reign of King

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

. He was also an avid shooter, hunter, and fisher on his estates of more than 30,000 acres. Lord Bagot died at

Blithfield Hall Blithfield Hall (pronounced locally as Bliffield), is a privately owned Grade I listed building, Grade I listed English country house, country house in Staffordshire, England, situated some east of Stafford, southwest of Uttoxeter and north of ...

Rugeley Rugeley ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cannock Chase District, in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the north-eastern edge of Cannock Chase next to the River Trent; it is north of Lichfield, southeast of Stafford, northeast of ...

, 23 December 1932, aged 75, and was succeeded in his titles by his second cousin Gerald William Bagot, 5th Baron Bagot. Lady Bagot died 21 February 1958.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bagot, William Bagot, 4th Baron 1857 births 1932 deaths People educated at Eton College Gentlemen Ushers Staffordshire Yeomanry officers Staffordshire Militia officers 4