Beilby Lawley, 3rd Baron Wenlock GCSI GCIE KCB VD PC (12 May 1849 – 15 January 1912) was a British soldier, Liberal politician and colonial administrator who was the Governor of Madras from 1891 to 1896.
The Lord Wenlock | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Governor of Madras | |
| In office 23 January 1891 – 18 March 1896 | |
| Governors‑General | The Marquess of Lansdowne The Earl of Elgin |
| Preceded by | John Henry Garstin (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Sir Arthur Elibank Havelock |
| Member of Parliament for Chester | |
| In office 1880–1880 | |
| Monarch | Queen Victoria |
| Preceded by | John George Dodson |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 May 1849 London, England |
| Died | 15 January 1912 (aged 62) Portland Place, London, England |
| Political party | Conservative Party |
| Spouse |
Constance Mary Lascelles
(m. 1872) |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Richard Lawley (brother) Arthur Lawley (brother) |
| Education | Eton College |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
Early life
editLawley was the son of Beilby Lawley, 2nd Baron Wenlock and his wife Lady Elizabeth Grosvenor, daughter of Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster. He was educated at Eton College and at Trinity College, Cambridge.[1] He was commissioned into the Yorkshire Hussars in 1869, and rose to the rank of Captain.
Political career
editWenlock was active in local affairs as a Justice of the Peace for the East and North Ridings of Yorkshire and as Chairman of East Riding County Council. At the 1880 general election he was elected Member of Parliament for Chester but inherited his peerage later in the year and was elevated to the House of Lords.
Governor of Madras
editIn 1890, Lawley was appointed Governor of Madras by the Conservative Party which came to power in the United Kingdom. Beilby Lawley served as the governor of Madras from 23 January 1891 to 18 March 1896. Lawley laid the foundation stone for the Nilgiri Mountain Railway which was begun in August 1891 when he was governor.[2] During 1891–92, the northern districts of Madras Presidency were gripped by a terrible famine.[3] The government's persistence in continuing grain export from the districts of Ganjam and Viazgapatm made the situation even worse.[4] Lawley established the Board of Mohammedan Education in 1893. In 1895, Lawley laid the foundation stone for a solar observatory at Kodaikanal.[5] The Wenlock Ward of General Hospital, Madras was established in his memory. During his tenure Madras government acquired an hospital in Mangalore and renamed as Wenlock District Hospital.
Lawley made significant enlargements to the Government House (now Raj Bahvan), Madras. Lawley also laid the foundation stone of the Madras High Court.[6][7]
Later life
editIn 1901 Wenlock was appointed a Privy Counsellor and made a Lord of the Bedchamber[8] to the new Prince of Wales (later George V). He was elected chairman of the East Riding of Yorkshire County Council in January 1902.[9] Wenlock held the position of Vice Chamberlain to Queen Mary from 1910 until his death.[10]
Lord Wenlock was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry on 15 May 1902 and later became its Honorary Colonel.[11] He also held the honorary colonelcies of several Volunteer units, including the 2nd East Riding Artillery Volunteers (from 30 March 1880) and its successors in the Territorial Force, the II Northumbrian Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, whose drill hall at Anlaby Road, Hull, was later named Wenlock Barracks.[12][13][14][15]
Family
editIn 1872 he married Lady Constance Mary Lascelles, daughter of the 4th Earl of Harewood, by whom he had one daughter: Hon. Irene Constance Lawley (b. 1889). She married Colin Gurden Forbes-Adam of Skipwith, Yorkshire. The Forbes-Adam family retain the Escrick estate which they now operate as a holiday and pleasure park.[16]
He was succeeded in the Barony by his brother Richard.
Honours and awards
editLord Wenlock received several British Orders and decorations:
- GCSI: Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India
- GCIE: Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire
- KCB: Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (civil division) – 26 November 1901[17]
- VD : Volunteer Officers' Decoration – 19 November 1901 – for his contribution as Honorary Colonel of the 2nd East Riding of Yorkshire Volunteer Artillery (Western Division, Royal Garrison Artillery)[18]
References
edit- ^ "Lawley, Beilby (LWLY867B)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ "History of Ooty".
- ^ "Starving to Death in Madras: Another terrible famine in some districts of India" (PDF). The New York Times. 7 August 1891.
- ^ Ghose 1982, p. 380
- ^ "Of astronomical significance". The Hindu. 31 May 2001. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012.
- ^ "History of the Madras High Court" (PDF). Madras High Court.
- ^ Restoring the old Article from NewIndPress news website Archived 26 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "No. 27290". The London Gazette. 1 March 1901. p. 1499.
- ^ "Court Circular". The Times. No. 36676. London. 28 January 1902. p. 7.
- ^ Cokayne, G. E.; Gibbs, V. (1959). The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom: extant, extinct, or dormant. The St. Catherine press, ltd. p. 487.
- ^ "No. 27437". The London Gazette. 27 May 1902. p. 3463.
- ^ Army List.
- ^ Hull at Great War Centenary Drill Halls.
- ^ Hull at Drill Hall Project.
- ^ Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1881
- ^ "Papers of the Forbes Adam/Thompson/Lawley Family of Escrick". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 14 April 2007.
- ^ "No. 27380". The London Gazette. 26 November 1901. p. 8086.
- ^ "No. 27378". The London Gazette. 19 November 1901. p. 7471.
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages [self-published source] [better source needed]
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
- Ghose, Ajit Kumar (1982). "Food Supply and Starvation: A Study of Famines with Reference to the Indian Subcontinent". Oxford Economic Papers. New Series. 34 (2): 368–389. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.oep.a041557. PMID 11620403.