Henry Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester

Henry Thomas Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester (29 July 1747 – 5 September 1802),[1] known as Lord Stavordale from 1756 to 1776,[2] was a British peer and Member of Parliament.

Henry Thomas Fox-Strangways
Member of the British Parliament
for Midhurst
In office
1768–1774
2nd Earl of Ilchester
In office
1776–1802
Succeeded byHenry Fox-Strangways, 3rd Earl of Ilchester
Personal details
Died5 September 1802
Spouses
  • Mary Theresa O'Grady
  • Maria Digby
Parents
Funerary hatchment of Ilchester at Farley

Early life and education

Ilchester was the eldest son of Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of Ilchester, and his wife, the former Elizabeth Horner. Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, was his uncle.

He was educated at Eton (1760–1764) and Christ Church, Oxford (1765).[3]

Career

He was elected to the House of Commons for Midhurst, Sussex in 1768 (along with his cousin Charles James Fox), a seat he retained until 1774. Two years later he succeeded his father as second Earl of Ilchester and took his seat in the House of Lords.[2]

He bought an army commission in 1770 and was made a captain in the 24th Regiment of Foot, but in 1775 when the regiment was sent to America he resigned his commission.[3]

Detailed information about the Ilchester household and family survives in the published diaries and correspondence of Agnes Porter, a Scottish-born governess to his many daughters from 1784 to 1797.[4] The family's previous governess had been Jane Gardiner, a childhood friend of Mary Wollstonecraft.

Marriages and children

Lord Ilchester married twice.[5] His first marriage in 1772 was to Mary Theresa O'Grady (died 1792), a daughter of Standish O'Grady, by whom he had two sons and six daughters,[3] including:

Secondly, in 1794, he married Maria Digby, a daughter of The Very Reverend William Digby, Dean of Worcester, Dean of Durham, an Honorary Chaplain to the King, younger brother of Henry Digby, 1st Earl Digby and first cousin of Charles James Fox. With Maria Digby he had three sons:

Death and succession

He died in September 1802, aged 55, and was succeeded by his son from his first marriage, Henry Fox-Strangways, 3rd Earl of Ilchester.

Arms
Arms of Fox-Strangways

The arms of the head of the Fox-Strangways family are blazoned Quarterly of four: 1st & 4th: Sable, two lions passant paly of six argent and gules (Strangways); 2nd & 3rd: Ermine, on a chevron azure three foxes' heads and necks erased or on a canton of the second a fleur-de-lys of the third (Fox).[7]

A Funerary hatchment of Henry Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester, in the Ilchester Chapel at Farley, shows his quartered arms impaling dexter O'Grady (Per pale gules and sable, three lions passant guardant in pale per pale argent and or) and sinister Digby (Azure, a fleur-de-lys argent) quartering FitzGerald.

References
  1. The Register of Births & Baptisms in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster Vol. IV. 1741-1760. 26 August 1747.
  2. "1757–8". Parliamentary History. 32 (S1): 227–245. 2013. doi:10.1111/1750-0206.12035.
  3. Brooke, John. "FOX STRANGWAYS, Henry Thomas, Lord Stavordale (1747-1802)". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  4. A Governess in the Age of Jane Austen. The Journals and Letters of Agnes Porter, ed. Joanna Martin (London: Hambledon Press, 1998). ISBN 1852851643.
  5. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003
  6. Obituary of Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice in Illustrated London News, 14 February 1863.
  7. "Earl of Ilchester" in Montague-Smith, P.W. (ed.), Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage (Kelly's Directories Ltd, Kingston-upon-Thames, 1968), p. 607

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