William Edwardes, 4th Baron Kensington

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
The Right Honourable

The Lord Kensington

PC
200px
"A Whip". Caricature of Lord Kensington by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1878.
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard
In office
25 August 1892 – 21 June 1895
Monarch Victoria
Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone
The Earl of Rosebery
Preceded by The Earl of Limerick
Succeeded by The Earl of Limerick
Personal details
Born 11 May 1835
Died 7 October 1896
Nationality British
Political party Liberal
Spouse(s) Grace Johnstone-Douglas
(d. 1910)

William Edwardes, 4th Baron Kensington PC (11 May 1835 – 7 October 1896), also 1st Baron Kensington in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, styled The Honourable William Edwardes between 1852 and 1872, was a British landowner and Liberal politician. He notably served as Comptroller of the Household from 1880 to 1885 and as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard from 1892 to 1895.

Background

Edwardes was the eldest son of Captain William Edwardes, 3rd Baron Kensington, by his wife Laura Jane Ellison, daughter of Cuthbert Ellison, of Hebburn Hall, Hebburn, County Durham.[1]

Political career

Edwardes was elected to the House of Commons for Haverfordwest in 1868, a seat he held until 1885.[2] In 1872 he succeeded his father as fourth Baron Kensington but as this was an Irish peerage it did not entitle him to a seat in the House of Lords and he was able to remain a member of the House of Commons. When the Liberals came to power in 1880 under William Ewart Gladstone, Kensington was admitted to the Privy Council[3] and appointed Comptroller of the Household (government whip in the House of Commons),[4] a post he held until the government fell in 1885.[5]

In 1886 he was created Baron Kensington, of Kensington in the County of Middlesex, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, which gave him a seat in the House of Lords.[6] The same year the Liberals returned to power under Gladstone, and Kensington served briefly as a Lord-in-Waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) from March[7] until the fall of the government in July.[8] The Liberals were out of office for the next six years, but returned to power in 1892, when Gladstone appointed him Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard.[9] He retained this office when Lord Rosebery became Prime Minister in 1894. The Liberal government fell the following year, and Kensington never returned to office.[10] Apart from his political career he also held the honorary post of Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire between 1872 and 1896.[11]

Family

Lord Kensington married Grace Elizabeth Johnstone-Douglas, daughter of Robert Johnstone-Douglas, in 1867. They had four sons and five daughters. He died in October 1896, aged 61, and was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son, William. Lady Kensington died in 1910. Their daughter, Sylvia, married Lord Edward Gleichen in the same year.[1]

References

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Haverfordwest
1868–1885
Constituency abolished
Political offices
Preceded by Comptroller of the Household
1880–1885
Succeeded by
Lord Arthur Hill
Preceded by Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard
1892–1895
Succeeded by
The Earl of Limerick
Party political offices
Preceded by Liberal Chief Whip in the House of Lords
1892–1896
Succeeded by
The Lord Ribblesdale
Honorary titles
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire
1872–1896
Succeeded by
Viscount Emlyn
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Kensington
1886–1896
Succeeded by
William Edwardes
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Baron Kensington
1872–1896
Succeeded by
William Edwardes