George Weld-Forester, 3rd Baron Forester

George Cecil Weld-Forester, 3rd Baron Forester PC (10 May 1807 – 14 February 1886), styled The Honourable George Weld-Forester between 1821 and 1874, was a British Conservative politician and army officer. He notably served as Comptroller of the Household in 1852 and from 1858 to 1859. A long-standing MP, he was Father of the House of Commons from 1873 to 1874, when he succeeded his elder brother in the barony and took a seat in the House of Lords.

General The Right Honourable
The Lord Forester
PC
Caricature of Lord Forester by "Ape" (Carlo Pellegrini) published in Vanity Fair in 1875.
Comptroller of the Household
In office
27 February 1852 – 17 December 1852
MonarchVictoria
Prime MinisterThe Earl of Derby
Preceded byThe Earl of Mulgrave
Succeeded byViscount Drumlanrig
In office
26 February 1858 – 11 June 1859
MonarchVictoria
Prime MinisterThe Earl of Derby
Preceded byViscount Castlerosse
Succeeded byLord Proby
Personal details
Born10 May 1807 (1807-05-10)
Died14 February 1886 (1886-02-15) (aged 78)
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)Hon. Mary Anne Jervis
(d. 1893)

Background

Weld-Forester, born at Sackville Street, London[1] was the second son of Cecil Weld-Forester, 1st Baron Forester, and Lady Katherine Mary Manners, daughter of Charles Manners, 4th Duke of Rutland. His elder brother John Weld-Forester, 2nd Baron Forester, was also a Tory politician.[2] Both the brothers had, as godfather at the same christening, the Prince of Wales, later King George IV, a personal friend of their father.[3]

He was educated at Westminster School.[1]

Military career

Weld-Forester entered the British Army on commission in 1824, and became Lieutenant-Colonel of the Royal Horse Guards in 1853. He was promoted to staff rank as Major-General in 1863 and Lieutenant-General in 1871, retiring, aged seventy, as full General in 1877 but he saw no campaign service.[1]

Political career

Weld-Forester succeeded his brother as Member of Parliament for Wenlock in 1828, a seat he would hold for 46 years.[2][4] He had been Groom of the Bedchamber to William IV from 1830 to 1831[1] and served in the first two Conservative administrations of the Earl of Derby as Comptroller of the Household between February[5] and December 1852[6] and from 1858[7] to 1859.[8] He was admitted to the Privy Council in 1852.[9] In 1873 he became Father of the House of Commons as the longest-serving member (then 45 years) of the House.[10] The following year he succeeded his elder brother as third Baron Forester and entered the House of Lords.[2] In 1878 he served as treasurer of the Salop Infirmary in Shrewsbury.[11]

Personal life

Lord Forester married the Honourable Mary Anne Jervis, daughter of Edward Jervis, 2nd Viscount St Vincent, and widow of David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre, in 1862. They had no children. He died at 3 Carlton Gardens, London, in February 1886, aged 78, and was buried at Willey parish church.[1] He was succeeded in the barony by his younger brother, Reverend Orlando Weld-Forester. Lady Forester died in March 1893.[2] The Lady Foresters Convalescent Home in Llandudno was opened in Lord Forester's honour in 1902.[12][13]

References
  1. The Complete Peerage, Volume V. St Catherine's Press. 1926. p. 553.
  2. thepeerage.com General George Cecil Weld Forester, 3rd Baron Forester of Willey Park
  3. "Death of Lord Forester". Eddowes's Shrewsbury Journal and Salopian Journal. 14 October 1874. p. 5.Obituary of the 2nd Baron.
  4. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 2)
  5. "No. 21297". The London Gazette. 2 March 1852. p. 670.
  6. "No. 21401". The London Gazette. 11 January 1853. p. 72.
  7. "No. 22106". The London Gazette. 2 March 1858. p. 1207.
  8. "No. 22280". The London Gazette. 28 June 1859. p. 2513.
  9. "No. 21296". The London Gazette. 27 February 1852. p. 633.
  10. "leighrayment.com Fathers of the House of Commons". Archived from the original on 26 September 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  11. Keeling-Roberts, Margaret (1981). In Retrospect, A Short History of the Royal Salop Infirmary. p. xiii. ISBN 0-9507849-0-7.
  12. greatorme.org
  13. Milverton, Charles. "Battling for the benefactress". Archived from the original on 19 October 2013.
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