Thomas Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook

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Victoria
Preceded byThe Lord Napier
Succeeded byThe Lord Lytton
Member of Parliament
for Penryn and Falmouth
In office
24 April 1857 – 15 October 1866
Preceded byHowel Gwyn
Succeeded byJervoise Smith
Personal details
Born
Thomas George Baring

(1826-01-22)22 January 1826
Died15 November 1904(1904-11-15) (aged 78)
Stratton Park, Hampshire
NationalityBritish
Political partyLiberal
Spouse
Elizabeth Sturt
(m. 1848; died 1867)
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford

Thomas George Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook,

First Lord of the Admiralty
between 1880 and 1885.

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

Secretary to the Admiralty
in 1866.

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.

Salisbury. Caption read "Purse, Pussy, Piety and Prevarication". Published in Vanity Fair
, 5 July 1882.

From 1880 to 1885 Northbrook held the post of

Home Rule
policy of the prime minister; and he then ceased to take a prominent part in political life.

Other work

Lord Northbrook

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

Royal Asiatic Society
.

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

Elizabeth Baring, wife of Thomas Baring (Richard Buckner)

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

Ghanta Ghar Multan, or Clock Tower of Multan, was named 'Northbrook Tower'. It is located in the center of Multan in Punjab province, Pakistan
. A library named 'Northbrook Hall' is located in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh.

See also

References

  1. ^ James S. Olson and Robert S. Shadle, Historical Dictionary of the British Empire (1996), p. 116.
  2. ^ Mallet (1908):15-21.
  3. ^ "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.
  4. ^ Army List.
  5. ^ Northbrook Society, Open University, Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  6. ^ "Royal Botanic Society". The Times. No. 36921. London. 10 November 1902. p. 12.
  7. ^ "Geograph". Geograph. 30 May 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2013.

Further reading

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Samuel Gurney
Succeeded by
Samuel Gurney
Jervoise Smith
Political offices
Preceded by
Henry James Baillie
Under-Secretary of State for India
1859–1861
Succeeded by
Preceded by Under-Secretary of State for War
1861–1861
Succeeded by
Preceded by Under-Secretary of State for India
1861–1864
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department

1864–1866
Succeeded by
Preceded by
First Lord of the Admiralty

1880–1885
Succeeded by
Government offices
Preceded by
Viceroy of India

1872–1876
Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire
1890–1904
Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New title
Earl of Northbrook

1876–1904
Succeeded by
Preceded by Baron Northbrook
1866–1904