| The Right Honourable The Earl of Strafford PC |
|
|---|---|
| Comptroller of the Household | |
| In office 6 May 1835 – 23 June 1841 |
|
| Monarch | William IV Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Viscount Melbourne |
| Preceded by | Hon. Henry Lowry-Corry |
| Succeeded by | Lord Marcus Hill |
| Treasurer of the Household | |
| In office 23 June 1841 – 30 August 1841 |
|
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Viscount Melbourne |
| Preceded by | Earl of Surrey |
| Succeeded by | Earl Jermyn |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 June 1806 |
| Died | 29 October 1886 |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Whig |
| Spouse(s) | (1) Lady Agnes Paget (c. 1809-1845) (2) Hon. Harriett Cavendish (d. 1892) |
| Alma mater | Royal Military Academy Sandhurst |
George Stevens Byng, 2nd Earl of Strafford, PC (8 June 1806 – 29 October 1886), styled Viscount Enfield between 1847 and 1860, was a British peer and Whig politician.
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Byng was the eldest son of John Byng (later 1st Earl of Strafford) and his wife, Mary (née Mackenzie).[1] In 1822, after graduating from the Royal Military College, he joined the 29th Regiment of Foot as an ensign by purchase. In 1825, he transferred to the 85th Regiment of Foot as a Lieutenant and was promoted to Captain in 1826.
Byng's political career began in 1830 when he was elected as Member of Parliament for Milborne Port,[2] a seat he briefly held before taking the post of Comptroller of the Household to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland (his father-in-law, Lord Anglesey), less than a year later. When his former co-MP, William Sturges-Bourne, took the Chiltern Hundreds a few weeks after, Byng returned to his former seat and held it until the Great Reform Bill abolished the constituency a year later.[2] From 1834 he was MP for the new constituency of Chatham, a seat he held until 1835 and again from 1837 to 1852.[3] He served under Lord Melbourne as a Lord of the Treasury between June and November 1834. Between 1836 and 1837 he represented Poole in parliament.[4] He again served under Lord Melbourne as Comptroller of the Household between 1835[5] and 1841[6] and as Treasurer of the Household between June[6] and August 1841[7] and was sworn of the Privy Council in 1835.[8] When Lord John Russell became Prime Minister in 1846, Byng was appointed Joint Secretary to the Board of Control, a post he retained until 1847.
After losing his parliamentary seat in 1852, Byng was summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration in his father's barony of Strafford a year later[9] and inherited his father's earldom in 1860.
Lord Strafford married firstly Lady Agnes, daughter of Field Marshal Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, on 7 March 1829. They had six children:
After Lady Agnes's death in October 1845, Lord Strafford married secondly the Hon. Harriett, daughter of Charles Cavendish, 1st Baron Chesham, in 1848. They had seven children:
Lord Strafford died in October 1886, aged 80, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son, George. The Countess of Strafford died in June 1892.[1]