Thomas Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook
Victoria | |
---|---|
Preceded by | The Lord Napier |
Succeeded by | The Lord Lytton |
Member of Parliament for Penryn and Falmouth | |
In office 24 April 1857 – 15 October 1866 | |
Preceded by | Howel Gwyn |
Succeeded by | Jervoise Smith |
Personal details | |
Born | Thomas George Baring 22 January 1826 |
Died | 15 November 1904 Stratton Park, Hampshire | (aged 78)
Nationality | British |
Political party | Liberal |
Spouse |
Elizabeth Sturt
(m. 1848; died 1867) |
Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
Thomas George Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook,
Background and education
Northbrook was the eldest son of Francis Baring, 1st Baron Northbrook, by his first wife Jane, daughter of the Sir George Grey, 1st Baronet. Jane died when young Thomas was less than thirteen, and he studied under a tutor, Mr. Bird, at home and took an interest in natural history. At fourteen Thomas wrote to his father who was holidaying at Weymouth to capture a yellow butterfly with black spots at the end of each wing known to be found on Portland Island. He was sent briefly to another tutor, Mr. Vaughan Johnson at Chalons-sur-Marne, to study French. He also took an interest in sketching, learning from S. Palmer, and later his friend Edward Lear. He went to Christ Church, Oxford in 1843, and graduated with honours in 1846. He travelled in Europe and took an interest in mountaineering, joining his friend from Oxford, Alfred Seymour.[2]
Political career
Northbrook entered upon a political career, and was successively private secretary to
When William Ewart Gladstone acceded to power in 1868, Baring was again appointed Under-Secretary of State for War, and this office he held until February 1872, when he was appointed Viceroy of India. On 3 May he was Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India and ex officio Grand Master of the Order.[3]
In January 1876, however, he resigned. He had recommended the conclusion of arrangements with Sher Ali Khan which, as has since been admitted,[by whom?] would have prevented the Second Anglo-Afghan War; but his policy was overruled by the Duke of Argyll, then Secretary of State for India. in 1876 he was created Viscount Baring, of Lee in the County of Kent, and Earl of Northbrook, in the County of Southampton.
From 1880 to 1885 Northbrook held the post of
Other work
Baring had served in the Hampshire Yeomanry, reaching the rank of major, and was appointed the regiment's Honorary Colonel on 26 January 1889.[4]
In 1890 he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire.
In the 1880s he was president of an offshoot of the
In 1898 he sold the land of Manor House Gardens, to the London County Council, and also gifted land in Lee to public use, which was opened as Northbrook Park in 1903.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Botanic Society in November 1902.[6]
Family
Lord Northbrook married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Charles Sturt and sister of Lord Alington, in 1848. They had two sons and one daughter. She died in June 1867, aged 40. Lord Northbrook remained a widower until his death at Stratton Park, Hampshire, in November 1904, aged 78. There is a memorial to him at All Saints, East Stratton.[7] He was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son, Francis.
Legacy in India
The
See also
References
- ^ James S. Olson and Robert S. Shadle, Historical Dictionary of the British Empire (1996), p. 116.
- ^ Mallet (1908):15-21.
- ^ "The Knights of England. A complete record from the earliest time to the present day of the knights of all the orders of chivalry in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of knights bachelors, incorporating a complete list of knights bachelors dubbed in Ireland". 1906.
- ^ Army List.
- ^ Northbrook Society, Open University, Retrieved 27 July 2015.
- ^ "Royal Botanic Society". The Times. No. 36921. London. 10 November 1902. p. 12.
- ^ "Geograph". Geograph. 30 May 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
Further reading
- Mallet, Bernard (1908). Thomas George earl of Northbrook, G.C.S.I. A memoir. London: Longmans, Green and Co.
- Mersey, Viscount Charles Clive Bigham. The viceroys and governors-general of India, 1757-1947 (1949)
- Gosto Behary Mullick (1873). Lord Northbrook and his mission in India: a lecture., includes his speeches