William Knox (MP)


The Hon. William Stuart Knox DL JP, was an Irish politician.

Early life

Knox was the second son of Thomas Knox, 2nd Earl of Ranfurly, and Mary Juliana Stuart. Among his siblings were Thomas Knox, 3rd Earl of Ranfurly, Lady Mary Stuart Knox, Lady Louisa Juliana Knox, and Lady Juliana Caroline Frances Knox.
His paternal grandparents were Thomas Knox, 1st Earl of Ranfurly, and the Hon. Diana Jane Pery. His maternal grandparents were the Most Reverend William Stuart, Archbishop of Armagh, and the former Sophia Margaret Penn.

Career

Knox was elected Member of Parliament for Dungannon in 1851, a seat he held until 1874. He was a Groom in Waiting to Queen Victoria in 1852 and 1853.
Commissioned into the 51st Foot, he retired as a major in 1855. From 1867 he was Honorary Colonel in the Mid Ulster Artillery, and he served as a Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace for County Tyrone.

Personal life

In 1856 Knox married Georgiana Rooper, daughter of John Bonfoy Rooper, of Ripton Hall, Huntingdon, and of Abbots Ripton. They had several children, including:
He died at Cheltenham on 16 February 1900, aged 73. His wife survived him by 26 years and died in November 1926.