Colonel Sir William Fitzwilliam Lenox-Conyngham, KCB DL JP (25 April 1824 – 4 December 1906) was an Irish militia officer.
Sir William Fitzwilliam Lenox-Conyngham | |
|---|---|
| Born | 24 April 1824 |
| Died | 4 December 1906 (aged 82) England |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service |  British Army/Militia |
| Rank | Lieutenant-Colonel (honorary Colonel) |
The eldest son of William Lenox-Conyngham and Charlotte Melosina Staples, third daughter of the Rt Hon. John Staples (of Lissan House), he was born at Springhill, County Londonderry and was a Deputy Lieutenant, Justice of the Peace and High Sheriff of County Tyrone. He married Laura Calvert Arbuthnot (1830-1917) and had thirteen children; William Arbuthnot Lenox-Conyngham, Rev. George Hugh Lenox-Conyngham, Elizabeth Mary Clark, John Staples Molesworth Lenox-Conyngham, Charlotte Melosina Lenox-Conyngham, Arthur Beresford Lenox-Conyngham, Sir Gerald Ponsonby Lenox-Conyngham, Ernest Lenox-Conyngham, Edward Fraser Lenox-Conyngham, Hubert Lenox-Conyngham, Alwyn Lenox-Conyngham, Laura Eleanor Duff and (Harriet) Alice Katherine Lenox-Conyngham (a passenger on the RMS Titanic).[1][2][3][4]
He served as a Lieutenant in the 88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers), and after retiring from the Regular Army he was commissioned as a Major in the disembodied Londonderry Militia in 1848 and promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1850.[5][6] The regiment was reformed as the Londonderry Light Infantry and embodied for home defence during the Crimean War under Lenox-Conyngham as Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant, later with the honorary rank of Colonel.[7] In 1881 he was rewarded with a knighthood (KCB).[8] In 1882 the regiment was converted to artillery as 9th Brigade, North Irish Division, Royal Artillery, and Lenox-Conyngham remained in command until his retirement on 28 April 1886.[7][9]
He also, after 1882, accepted the Agency of the Drapers' Company in Londonderry and in this capacity lived in the Manor House, Moneymore. When, after the passing of the Ashbourne Act, the lands of the Drapers' Company were sold, Sir William and his family went for a short time to live in England, where Sir William died in 1906.[10]
References
edit- ^ Family Tree[usurped]
- ^ Springhill's own Titanic Story - Mid Ulster Mail, 27 April 2012
- ^ Schoolgirl's unseen letter tells of Titanic accident before it even set off on doomed voyage - Daily Mirror, 8 March 2012
- ^ Publican buys letter from Titanic passenger - The Irish Times, 25 February 2004
- ^ Arthur Sleigh, The Royal Militia and Yeomanry Cavalry Army List, April 1850, London: British Army Despatch Press, 1850/Uckfield: Naval and Military Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-84342-410-9, p. 132.
- ^ Lt-Col H.G. Hart, The New Annual Army List, and Militia List (various dates from 1840).
- ^ a b Army List, various dates.
- ^ Supplement to the London Gazette, May 24th, 1881 (page 2674). 'To be Ordinary Members of the Civil Division of the Second Class, or Knights Commanders of the said Order :- Lieutenant-Colonel and Honorary Colonel William Fitzwilliam Lenox Conyngham, Londonderry Militia'.
- ^ London Gazette, 27 April 1886.
- ^ PRONI
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