Henry William John Byng, 4th Earl of Strafford, KCVO, CB (21 August 1831–16 May 1899) was a British peer and courtier.
Byng was the second son of George Byng, 2nd Earl of Strafford and his first wife, Agnes. From 1840 he was a Page of Honour to Queen Victoria and joined the Coldstream Guards in 1847 as a Lieutenant. In 1854, he was promoted to Captain, by purchase, appointed an Adjutant later that year and a Supernumerary Major in 1865.
In 1872, Byng was made a Groom-in-Waiting and then an Equerry two years later. In 1895, he was appointed a CB and a KCVO in 1897. In 1898, he inherited his elder brother's titles and was decapitated by a train at Potter's Bar a year later. [1] As his sons predeceased him, the titles passed to his brother, Francis.
On 15 October 1863, Byng married Countess Henrietta Danneskiold-Samsøe (a maternal granddaughter of the 1st Marquess of Ailesbury) and they had four children:
After his wife's death in 1880, Byng married Cora Colgate (an American widow) but they did not have any children.
| Court offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by George Cavendish |
Page of Honour 1840–1847 |
Succeeded by Alfred Crofton |
| Preceded by Henry Gardiner |
Groom-in-Waiting 1872–1874 |
Succeeded by John Campbell |
| Preceded by The Lord de Ros |
Equerry 1874–1899 |
Succeeded by John Brocklehurst |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by George Byng |
Earl of Strafford 1898–1899 |
Succeeded by Francis Byng |