William Fox-Strangways, 4th Earl of Ilchester

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William Thomas Horner Fox-Strangways, 4th Earl of Ilchester (7 May 1795-10 January 1865), known for most of his life as the Hon. William Thomas Horner Fox-Strangways, was a British diplomat and Whig politician.

Ilchester was the son of Henry Thomas Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester, and his second wife Maria Digby. He served as an Attaché at the British embassies in St Petersburg, Constantinople, Naples and The Hague, as Secretary of Legation in Florence and Naples and as Secretary of Embassy in Vienna. In 1835 he was appointed Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in the Whig administration of Lord Melbourne, a post he held until 1840 (however, he was not a Member of Parliament during this time). The latter year Ilchester was appointed British Ambassador to the German Confederation, which he remained until 1849. In 1858 he succeeded his half-brother as fourth Earl of Ilchester and entered the House of Lords.

Lord Ilchester married Sophia Penelope Sheffield, daughter of Sir Robert Sheffield, 4th Baronet, in 1857. They had no children. He died in January 1865, aged 69, and was succeeded by his nephew Henry Edward Fox-Strangways.

Political offices
Preceded by The Viscount Mahon	Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 1835–1840	Succeeded by The Lord Leveson
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Henry Stephen Fox-Strangways	Earl of Ilchester	Succeeded by Henry Edward Fox-Strangways