Frederick Lygon, 6th Earl Beauchamp

Frederick Lygon, 6th Earl Beauchamp,, styled The Honourable Frederick Lygon between 1853 and 1866, was a British Conservative politician.

Background and education

Beauchamp was the third son of Henry Lygon, 4th Earl Beauchamp, and Lady Susan Caroline, daughter of William Eliot, 2nd Earl of St Germans. He was educated at Eton, was President of the Oxford Union in 1851 and graduated from Christ Church, Oxford in 1856 with an MA degree.

Political career

Beauchamp was Member of Parliament for Tewkesbury from 1857 to 1863 and for West Worcestershire from 1863 to 1866. In 1859 he was appointed Civil Lord of the Admiralty. On 4 March 1866 he inherited the earldom of Beauchamp on the death of his childless brother. He served under Benjamin Disraeli as Lord Steward of the Household between 1874 and 1880 and under Lord Salisbury as Paymaster-General from 1885 to 1886 and again from 1886 to 1887. In 1874 he was sworn of the Privy Council. He was also Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire between 1876 and 1891.

Other works

In addition to his political duties Frederick Lygon also found time to be a great philanthropist. He was one of the founders of Malvern Boys' College and later a chairman of the college council. He was also the driving force behind the building of the Almshouses and St Leonards Church at Newland, consecrated in 1864, conceived by his uncle John Reginald Pindar and his wife Charlotte. Frederick also finished the building of the church at Madresfield consecrated in 1867 which was the gift of Henry 5th Earl Beauchamp who had died before the work was completed.
Beauchamp was also the second President of the Folklore Society, serving in that role between 1880 and 1885. Even though he was one of the longest serving Presidents of the Society, It has been suggested that his links with the Society should be seen more as "aristocratic patronage" rather than active academic interest.
He also helped to establish the Pusey Memorial House.
He owned 17,000 acres, mostly in Worcester.

Family

Lord Beauchamp married Lady Mary Stanhope, daughter of Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope, and his wife Emily Harriet Kerrison, at St George's Church in Hanover Square, London, on 18 February 1868. They had five children:

Lady Mary Trefusis, married 1905 Lt.-Col. Henry Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis and had issue. Lady Mary was a close friend and correspondent of her brother Lord Beauchamp. She was a friend and promoter of the composer Edward Elgar and is thought to be commemorated anonymously in one of his Enigma Variations entitled "Romanza ". She was the first President of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, Trefusis Hall in the EFDSS HQ, Cecil Sharp House, is named for her. She was also Lady in Waiting to Queen Mary.
Lady Susan Lygon, married 1889 Sir Robert Gilmour, 1st Baronet, and had issue.
William Lygon, Viscount Elmley, later 7th Earl Beauchamp
Lieutenant Hon. Edward Hugh Lygon, an officer in the Grenadier Guards, killed in South Africa during the Second Boer War.
Lady Margaret Lygon, married the 2nd Baron Ampthill and had issue.

Lady Beauchamp died on 30 June 1876, and on 24 September 1878 Lord Beauchamp married Lady Emily Pierrepont, daughter of the 3rd Earl Manvers and his wife Georgiana Jane E. F. de Franquetot, at Perlethorpe in Nottinghamshire. They had four children, two sons and two daughters.

Hon. Robert Lygon ; m. 10 October 1903 Cecil Albinia Arbuthnot, daughter of Sir George Gough Arbuthnot; they had issue, one son Reginald.
Hon. Henry Lygon who died unmarried aged 51.
Lady Agnes Lygon ; m. 1906 Hon. Arthur George Villiers Peel, and had issue.
Lady Maud Lygon, later Lady Maud Hoare, and still later Viscountess Templewood married 1909 Samuel Hoare, 1st Viscount Templewood ; they had no issue. Lady Maud was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1927.

Lord Beauchamp died on 19 February 1891, aged 60, at his home, Madresfield Court, from a heart attack he suffered at dinner that night. His eighteen-year-old eldest son William succeeded him in the earldom. He was buried in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin Madresfield near the south east corner of the church alongside his first wife Mary; his second wife Emily was later interred on his other side. In his will he had expressly forbidden any tribute or monument.