Wilbraham Egerton, 1st Earl Egerton

Wilbraham Egerton, 1st Earl Egerton (17 January 1832 – 16 March 1909) was an English Conservative Party politician from the Egerton family. He sat in the House of Commons from 1858 to 1883 when he inherited his peerage and was elevated to the House of Lords.

The Earl Egerton
Wilbraham Egerton, 1st Earl Egerton, by Hubert von Herkomer
Member of Parliament for North Cheshire
In office
1858–1868
Preceded byWilliam Egerton
George Cornwall Legh
Succeeded byConstituency created
Member of Parliament for Mid Cheshire
In office
1868–1883
Preceded byWilliam Egerton
George Cornwall Legh
Succeeded byPiers Egerton-Warburton
Hon. Alan Egerton
Personal details
Born
Wilbraham Egerton

(1832-01-17)17 January 1832
United Kingdom
Died16 March 1909(1909-03-16) (aged 77)
United Kingdom
Political partyConservative
ChildrenLady Gertrude Lucia Egerton
Parent(s)William Egerton, 1st Baron Egerton
Lady Charlotte Loftus
Alma mater
Caricature by Ape published in Vanity Fair in 1886.

Life

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Egerton was the son of the 1st Baron Egerton and his wife Lady Charlotte Loftus eldest daughter of the Marquis of Ely. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford. He was a Justice of the Peace for Cheshire and a captain in the Earl of Chester's Yeomanry Cavalry.[1]

In 1858 Egerton was elected Member of Parliament for North Cheshire and held the seat until it was reorganised in 1868. He was then elected MP for Mid Cheshire and held the seat until 1883,[2] when he succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Egerton. He was the second Chairman of the Manchester Ship Canal from 1887 to 1894. In 1897, he was created Earl Egerton.

Egerton was appointed Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum (Lord Lieutenant) of Cheshire in March 1900,[3] serving until 1905.

 
Egerton in 1907, by Franz Baum

Egerton was chairman of the Church Defence Institution, and an Ecclesiastical Commissioner. He died on 16 March 1909 at the age of 77. A bust of Egerton by Kathleen Shaw is on display at Tatton Park.[4]

Family

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Egerton married on 15 October 1857 Lady Mary Amherst, the only daughter of the 2nd Earl Amherst. They had one child, Lady Gertrude Lucia Egerton, who later married the future 8th Earl of Albemarle. His first wife died in 1892 and on 8 August 1894, Lord Egerton married Alice Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, the widow of the 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos.

References

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  1. ^ Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1881
  2. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 3)
  3. ^ "No. 27175". The London Gazette. 20 March 1900. p. 1876.
  4. ^ "Shaw, Kathleen Trousdell, 1865–1958, Art UK". artuk.org.
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Window of William and Wilbraham Egerton
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for North Cheshire
1858–1868
With: George Cornwall Legh
Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for Mid Cheshire
1868–1883
With: George Cornwall Legh 1868–1873
Egerton Legh 1873–1876
Piers Egerton-Warburton 1876–1883
Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire
1900–1905
Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Earl Egerton
1897–1909
Extinct
Preceded by Baron Egerton
1883–1909
Succeeded by
Professional and academic associations
Preceded by President of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society
1885–86
Succeeded by