Cecil Weld-Forester, 1st Baron Forester (baptised 7 April 1767 – 23 May 1828) was a Tory British Member of Parliament and later peer.
The Lord Forester | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Wenlock | |
| In office 1801–1820 Serving with John Simpson | |
| Preceded by | Parliament of Great Britain |
| Succeeded by | Francis Forester William Lacon Childe |
| In office 1790–1800 Serving with Sir Henry Bridgeman, John Simpson | |
| Preceded by | Sir Henry Bridgeman George Forester |
| Succeeded by | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Cecil Forester 7 April 1767 |
| Died | 23 May 1828 (aged 61) Belgrave Square, London |
| Spouse |
Lady Katherine Mary Manners
(m. 1800; died 1828) |
| Children | 9 |
| Education | Westminster School |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
Early life
editBorn Cecil Forester and baptised at St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury,[1] he was the eldest son of Anne (née Townshend) Forester and Lt-Col. Cecil Forester, MP for Wenlock.[2] He assumed the additional surname of Weld by Royal Licence in 1811, upon inheriting Willey Park from his cousin George Forester.[3] Among his younger siblings were George Townshend-Forester (Recorder of Wenlock), the Rev. Townshend Forester (Prebendary of Worcester), and Maj. Francis Forester (MP for Wenlock who married Lady Louisa Vane, a daughter of the 1st Duke of Cleveland).[4]
His paternal grandparents were William Forester, also MP for Wenlock (and son of Sir William Forester and Lady Mary Cecil, a daughter of the 3rd Earl of Salisbury), and the former Catherine Brooke.[5] His maternal grandfather was Robert Townshend.[6]
He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford.[7]
Career
editHe was elected to the House of Commons for Wenlock in 1790, a seat he held until 1820. The latter year he was raised to the Peerage of the United Kingdom as Baron Forester, of Willey Park in the County of Shropshire.[8] He had initially asked to be titled as Baron Wenlock to spite the rival local Lawley family who later did take the title.[7]
During the time of the French Revolutionary Wars, Forester was in 1800 captain of the Wenlock volunteers troops, becoming ultimately lieutenant-colonel in command in 1804.[7] In 1813 he served as treasurer of the Salop Infirmary in Shrewsbury.[9]
Personal life
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In 1800, Weld-Forester married Lady Katherine Mary Manners (1779–1829), daughter of Charles Manners, 4th Duke of Rutland, and Lady Mary Isabella Somerset.[10] They had nine children, four sons and five daughters, including:[6]
- John George Weld-Forester, 2nd Baron Forester (1801–1874), who married Alexandrine, Viscountess Melbourne (née Countess von Maltzan), a daughter of Joachim Carl Ludwig, Count von Maltzan, and widow of Frederick Lamb, 3rd Viscount Melbourne.[3]
- Hon. Anne Elizabeth Weld-Forester (1802–1885), who married George Stanhope, 6th Earl of Chesterfield, in 1830.[3]
- Hon. Elizabeth Katherine Weld-Forester (1803–1832), who married Robert Carrington, 2nd Baron Carrington, in 1822.[3]
- Hon. Isabella Elizabeth Annabella Weld-Forester (1805–1858), who married Maj.-Gen. Hon. George Anson, son of Thomas Anson, 1st Viscount Anson and Lady Anne Margaret Coke (a daughter of the 1st Earl of Leicester), in 1830.[3]
- George Cecil Weld-Forester, 3rd Baron Forester (1807–1886), who married Hon. Mary Anne Jervis, a daughter of Edward Jervis, 2nd Viscount St Vincent, and widow of David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre, in 1862.[11]
- Hon. Henrietta Maria Weld-Forester (1809–1841), who married Albert Denison, 1st Baron Londesborough, son of Gen. Henry Conyngham, 1st Marquess Conyngham, in 1833.[3]
- Hon. Charles Robert Weld-Forester (1811–1852), who married Lady Maria Jocelyn, daughter of Robert Jocelyn, 3rd Earl of Roden and Hon. Maria Stapleton (a daughter of the 12th Baron le Despencer), in 1848.[3]
- Orlando Watkin Weld Weld-Forester, 4th Baron Forester (1813–1894), a Reverend who married Sophia Elizabeth Norman, daughter of Richard Norman, in 1840. After her death in 1872 he married Emma Maria Tollemache, daughter of William Tollemache, in 1875.[3]
- Hon. Selina Louisa Weld-Forester (1819–1894), who married Orlando Bridgeman, 3rd Earl of Bradford in 1844.[3]
He died of gout at Belgrave Square, London in 1828, aged 61, and was buried at Willey parish church.[12] His tomb was sculpted by John Carline.[13] He was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son John George Weld-Forester. Lady Forester died in 1829. His daughters Anne and Selina were leaders of fashionable society, and both were intimate friends of Benjamin Disraeli. It was often said that Disraeli in his last years was in love with Selina, but since she was not free to marry, he proposed to the widowed Lady Anne instead, in the hope of remaining close to both sisters.[14]
Descendants
editThrough his youngest daughter Selina, he was a grandfather of Lady Florence Bridgeman, wife of Henry Lascelles, 5th Earl of Harewood, and mother to his great-grandson, Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood, through whom Lord Forester's descendants would be in the British line of succession to the throne through his descendant Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, and Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood.[15]
References
edit- ^ The Complete Peerage, Volume V. St Catherine's Press. 1926. p. 552. Editors Vicary Gibbs and H. A. Doubleday. Parish named "St Chad's, Salop" (sic), birthdate and place not given.
- ^ Namier, Sir Lewis. "FORESTER, Cecil (?1721-74), of Rossall, nr. Shrewsbury, Salop". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 3, page 3450.
- ^ Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volumes. Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999, volume 1, page 192.
- ^ Namier, Sir Lewis. "FORESTER, William (1690-1758), of Dothill Park, Salop". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ a b G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume II, page 276.
- ^ a b c Thorne, R. G. "FORESTER (afterwards WELD FORESTER), Cecil (1767-1828), of Ross Hall and Willey Park, Salop". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ "No. 17724". The London Gazette. 14 July 1821. p. 1462.
- ^ Keeling-Roberts, Margaret (1981). In Retrospect: A Short History of the Royal Salop Infirmary. North Shropshire Printing Company. p. xi. ISBN 0-9507849-0-7.
- ^ "Catherine Mary Forester (née Manners), Lady Forester". www.npg.org.uk. National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ Townend, Peter. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 105th edition. London: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1970, p. 1036.
- ^ The Complete Peerage, Volume V. 1926. p. 553.
- ^ Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by rupert Gunnis
- ^ Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (23 September 2004), "Selina Bridgeman", The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. ref:odnb/50250, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/50250, retrieved 29 March 2023
- ^ Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990 [page needed]