Francis Egerton (Royal Navy officer)

Admiral Francis Egerton (15 September 1824 – 15 December 1895), known as Francis Leveson-Gower until 1833, was a British naval commander and politician[1] from the Egerton family.

Francis Egerton
Member of Parliament for Derbyshire North-East
In office
1885–1886
Preceded byNew constituency
Succeeded byThomas Bolton
Member of Parliament for Derbyshire East
In office
1868–1885
Preceded byNew constituency
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born(1824-09-15)15 September 1824
Died15 December 1895(1895-12-15) (aged 71)
Weybridge, Surrey, England
Spouse
Lady Louisa Caroline Cavendish
(m. 1861)
RelationsSee Egerton family
Children5
Parent(s)Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere
Harriet Catherine Greville

Early life

Egerton was the second son of eleven children born to Harriet Catherine Greville, Countess of Ellesmere, and Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere, who served as Secretary at War and Chief Secretary for Ireland. His father inherited the considerable wealth (but not the titles) of Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater.

His mother, a great-great-granddaughter of the 5th Baron Brooke, was the daughter of Charles Greville, and his paternal grandparents were George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland and Elizabeth Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland (daughter of the 18th Earl of Sutherland). His maternal uncle was the private secretary to the Duke of Wellington.[2]

Career

In 1840,[3] he joined the Royal Navy and immediately saw active service due to the Oriental Crisis of that year: he served off the Syrian coast and was present at the bombardment of Acre.[1] During the Crimean War he was in command of HMS Basilisk and in 1855 he reached the rank of captain.[1]

HMS Centurion and the Royal Albert attempt to save a man overboard, during the passage to Corfu, circa 1857-58, as sketched by Capt. Egerton of the Royal Albert

He was aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria from 1865 to 1873.[3] In 1873, he was promoted to Rear admiral,[4] and he was placed on the retired list in November 1875.[5] Following his retirement, he continued to be promoted: in 1878 to Vice-admiral and in 1884 to the rank of Admiral.[1]

He also sat as Member of Parliament for Derbyshire East from 1868 to 1885 and for Derbyshire North-East from 1885 to 1886.[1]

In his later years he was a resident of Surrey, where he continued his political activities as president of the Chertsey Division of the Central Liberal Council.[1] He was appointed Lord Lieutenant of the county in 1893.[3]

Personal life

Egerton married Lady Louisa Caroline Cavendish (1835–1907), daughter of William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire, and sister of Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire, in 1861.[1] Together, Francis and Lady Louisa were the parents of:[6]

He died on 15 December 1895 at his home in Weybridge from heart disease aged 71 and was buried at Byfleet.[1][3]

Descendants

Through his son Francis, he was a grandfather of Captain Francis Egerton (1896–1935), who married the Hon. Doris Mary Pottinger Meysey-Thompson, a daughter of Henry Meysey-Thompson, 1st Baron Knaresborough and Ethel Adeline Pottinger (daughter of Sir Henry Pottinger, 3rd Baronet). Among her siblings was Helen Winifred, Lady Newton, the mother of Peter Richard Legh, 4th Baron Newton; Violet Ethel Meysey-Thompson, the mother of Giles Vandeleur and wife of Sir Algar Howard.[6]

References

  1. "Obituary". The Times. No. 34762. 17 December 1895. p. 6.
  2. "Death of Lady Charlotte Greville". West Surrey Times. 2 August 1862. p. 4.
  3. "The Late Admiral The Hon. F. Egerton". The Graphic: An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper. 28 December 1895. p. 1.
  4. "No. 23948". The London Gazette. 14 February 1873. p. 637.
  5. "No. 24263". The London Gazette. 5 November 1875. p. 5261.
  6. Raineval, Melville Henry Massue marquis de Ruvigny et (1994). The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal: Being a Complete Table of All the Descendants Now Living of Edward III, King of England. The Clarence volume : containing the descendants of George, Duke of Clarence. Genealogical Publishing Company. p. 360. ISBN 9780806314327.
  7. "Commander Frederick Greville Egerton (1869–1899), RN". artuk.org. Art UK. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  8. "Commander Frederick Greville Egerton, RN (1869 – 1899), The Hon. Francis Egerton, RN (1824-1895), and Lady Louisa Caroline Cavendish, Lady Egerton (1835-1907) 1129243". www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk. National Trust Collections. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  9. Almanach de Gotha (in French). Johann Paul Mevius sel. Witwe und Johann Christian Dieterich. 1903. p. 467.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.