Earl of Ilchester

Earl of Ilchester is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1756 for Stephen Fox, 1st Baron Ilchester, who had previously represented Shaftesbury in Parliament. He had already been created Baron Ilchester, of Ilchester in the County of Somerset in 1741, and Baron Ilchester and Stavordale, of Redlynch, in the County of Somerset, in 1747. These titles were also in the Peerage of Great Britain. All three peerages were created with remainder, failing heirs male of his own, to his younger brother Henry Fox, who was himself created Baron Holland in 1763. The brothers were the only sons from the second marriage of the politician Sir Stephen Fox.

Earldom of Ilchester
Arms of Fox-Strangways: Quarterly of four: 1st & 4th: Sable, two lions passant paly of six argent and gules (Strangways); 2nd & 3rd: Ermine, on a chevron azure three fox's heads and necks erased or on a canton of the second a fleur-de-lys of the third (Fox).[1]
Creation date	1756
Created by	George II
Peerage	Peerage of Great Britain
First holder	Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of Ilchester
Present holder	Robin Maurice Fox-Strangways, 10th Earl of Ilchester
Heir presumptive	Paul Andre Fox-Strangeways
Subsidiary titles	Baron Ilchester Baron Ilchester and Stavordale
Former seat(s)	Melbury House Holland House

In 1758 the first Earl assumed by Royal licence the additional surname of Strangways, which was the maiden name of his wife's maternal grandmother. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Earl. He represented Midhurst in Parliament. His eldest son, the third Earl, served as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard from 1835 to 1841 in the Whig administration of Lord Melbourne and was also Lord Lieutenant of Somerset from 1837 to 1839. Lord Ilchester survived both his sons and was succeeded by his half-brother, the fourth Earl. He was Ambassador to the German Confederation from 1840 to 1849. His nephew, the fifth Earl, was Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms from 1873 to 1874 in the Liberal government of William Ewart Gladstone and also served as Lord Lieutenant of Dorset from 1885 to 1905. On the death in 1964 of his grandson, the seventh Earl, the line of the eldest son of the first Earl failed. The seventh Earl was succeeded by his fourth cousin, the eighth Earl. As of 2014^[update] the titles are held by his grandson, the tenth Earl, who succeeded his uncle in 2006.

The family seat was Melbury House, near Evershot, Dorset. The family, through Ilchester Estates, owns and manages large portions of land in the county of Dorset and the Holland House estate west of Holland Park in Kensington, London.^[2] The family inherited much land in the 17th century from the Wadham family of Merryfield, Ilton in Somerset and of Edge, Branscombe in Devon, and in 1874 from their distant cousins the Fox family of Holland House, Kensington.

Earls of Ilchester (1756)

• Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of Ilchester (1704–1776)
• Henry Thomas Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester (1747–1802)
• Henry Stephen Fox-Strangways, 3rd Earl of Ilchester (1787–1858)
• William Thomas Horner Fox-Strangways, 4th Earl of Ilchester (1795–1865)
• Henry Edward Fox-Strangways, 5th Earl of Ilchester (1847–1905)
• Giles Stephen Holland Fox-Strangways, 6th Earl of Ilchester (1874–1959)
• Edward Henry Charles James Fox-Strangways, 7th Earl of Ilchester (1905–1964)
• Walter Angelo Fox-Strangways, 8th Earl of Ilchester (1887–1970)^{[citation needed]}
• Maurice Vivian de Touffreville Fox-Strangways, 9th Earl of Ilchester (1920–2006)
• Robin Maurice Fox-Strangways, 10th Earl of Ilchester (b. 1942)

Family tree

v t e Family tree of the Fox family[3]

Elizabeth Whittle d. 1696 Stephen Fox 1627–1716 Christiana Hope Charles Cornwallis 1655–1698 3rd Baron Cornwallis Elizabeth Fox c. 1655–1681 Jane Fox d. 1721 George Compton 1664–1727 4th Earl of Northampton Susannah Strangways Thomas Strangways-Horner (né Horner) Baron Holland of Holland in the County of Lincoln, 1762 Baron Holland of Foxley in the County of Wiltshire, 1763 Baron Ilchester, 1741 Baron Ilchester and Stavordale, 1747 Earl of Ilchester, 1756 Caroline (Lennox) Fox 1723–1774 1st Baroness Holland of Holland Henry Fox 1705–1774 1st Baron Holland of Foxley Stephen Fox-Strangways (né) Fox 1704–1776 1st Earl of Ilchester Elizabeth Fox-Strangways (née Horner) Mary FitzPatrick d. 1778 Stephen Fox 1747–1774 2nd Baron Holland of Holland, 2nd Baron Holland of Foxley Charles James Fox 1749–1806 Elizabeth Fox (née Armistead) 1750–1842 Mary Fox-Strangways (née O'Grady) d. 1790 Henry Fox-Strangways 1747–1802 2nd Earl of Ilchester Maria Fox-Strangways (née Digby) d. 1842 Harriet Acland (née Fox-Strangways) 1749/50–1815 John Dyke Acland 1746–1778 Rev. Hon. Charles Fox-Strangways 1761–1836 Jane Haines d. 1830 Elizabeth Fox (née Vassall) 1771–1845 Henry Richard Vassall-Fox (né Fox) 1773–1840 3rd Baron Holland of Holland, 3rd Baron Holland of Foxley Henry Fox-Strangways 1787–1858 3rd Earl of Ilchester Charles Richard Fox 1796–1873 Lady Mary Fox (née FitzClarence) 1798–1864 Henry Fox 1802–1859 4th Baron Holland of Holland, 3rd Baron Holland of Foxley Lady Mary Coventry 1812–1889 Mary Elizabeth Fox 1806–1891 Thomas Powys 1801–1861 3rd Baron Lilford William Fox-Strangways 1795–1865 4th Earl of Ilchester John Fox-Strangways 1803–1859 Amelia Fox-Strangways (née Marjoribanks) d. 1886 Rev. Henry Fox-Strangways 1793–1860 Hester Eleanora Buller d. 1865 Barony Holland of Holland and Barony Holland of Foxley extinct, 1859 Henry Fox-Strangways 1847–1905 5th Earl of Ilchester Mary Fox-Strangways (née Dawson) 1852–1935 Col. Walter Fox-Strangways 1832–1885 Harriet Fox-Strangways (née Buller) d. 1903 Giles Fox-Strangways 1874–1959 6th Earl of Ilchester Lady Helen Fox-Strangways (née Vane-Tempest-Stewart) 1876–1956 Maurice Fox-Strangways 1862–1938 Louisa Fox-Strangways (née Phillips) d. 1940 Henry Fox-Strangways, 7th Earl of Ilchester 1905–1964 Helen Fox-Strangways (née Ward) 1907–1970 Walter Fox-Strangways 1887–1970 8th Earl of Ilchester Laure Fox-Strangways (née Mazaraki) d. 1970 Maurice Fox-Strangways 1920–2006 9th Earl of Ilchester Raymond Fox-Strangways, 10th Earl of Ilchester b. 1921 Paul Andre Fox-Strangways b. 1950 Heir presumptive to the Earldom of Ilchester

Present peer

Robin Maurice Fox-Strangways, 10th Earl of Ilchester (born 2 September 1942) is the son of Raymond George Fox-Strangways, younger son of the 8th Earl, and his wife Margaret Vera Force. He was educated at Loughborough College and had a career with Lloyds Bank. In 2003 he was living at Frankton, Warwickshire. On 2 July 2006 he succeeded to the peerages.^[4]

On 19 July 1969, he married Margaret Elizabeth Miles, daughter of Geoffrey Miles, and they had two children:^[4]

• Simon James Fox-Strangways, Lord Stavordale (1972–2018)
• Lady Charlotte Helen Fox-Strangways (born 1974), who had a career in nursing and married Stephen Hobin^[4]

The heir presumptive (and last in line to the earldom) is the present peer's younger brother Paul Andre Fox-Strangways (born 1950), a university lecturer.^[4]

See also

• Baron Holland
• Charles James Fox

References

1. Montague-Smith 1968, p. 607.
2. "Ilchester Estates". Archived from the original on 25 December 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
3. Lundy, Darryl (25 August 2013). "Walter Angelo Fox-Strangways, 8th Earl of Ilchester". The Peerage. p. 6026 § 60251.; Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage. Vol. 2 (107 ed.). Wilmington, Delaware: Genealogical Books. p. 2027.
4. Burkes Peerage, vol. 2 (2003), page 2027

Work cited

• Hesilrige, Arthur G. M. (1921). Debrett's Peerage and Titles of courtesy. 160A, Fleet street, London, UK: Dean & Son. p. 498.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
• Montague-Smith, Patrick Wykeham (1968). Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage. Kelly's Directories Ltd, Kingston-upon-Thames. p. 607.
• Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, ^{[page needed]}, ^{[page needed]}
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages ^{[self-published source] [better source needed]}
• Fox-Strangways, Earls of Ilchester, archive (ref:D/FSI), estate and family papers, 965-1900s, held at the Dorset History Centre