Earl of Ilchester

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Earl of Ilchester, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1756 for Stephen Fox, who had previously represented Shaftesbury in Parliament. He had already been created Lord Ilchester, of Ilchester in the County of Somerset, Baron of Woodford Strangways in the County of Dorset, in 1741, and Lord Ilchester and Stavordale, Baron 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.

In 1758 the first Earl assumed by Royal license 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 distant relative, the eighth Earl. He was the great-great-great-grandson of Reverend the Hon. Charles Redlynch Fox-Strangways, third son of the first Earl. As of 2006 the titles are held by his grandson, the tenth Earl, who succeeded his uncle in 2006.