Henry Lygon, 4th Earl Beauchamp

Henry Beauchamp Lygon, 4th Earl Beauchamp (1784-1863) (Richard Dighton)

General Henry Beauchamp Lygon, 4th Earl Beauchamp DL (5 January 1784 – 8 September 1863), styled The Honourable Henry Lygon from 1806 until 1853, was a British soldier and politician.

Background

Beauchamp was the third son of William Lygon, 1st Earl Beauchamp, by his wife Catharine, the only daughter of James Denn. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford and entered the British Army in 1803.

Military career

From 1809, Beauchamp served with his regiment the 16th Light Dragoons in the Peninsular War until its end in 1814. He took part in the First Battle of Porto and then in the Battle of Talavera. After the Battle of the Côa in 1810, he was wounded in the Battle of Bussaco. Beauchamp was promoted to major-general in 1837 and received colonelship of the 10th Royal Hussars in 1843. Three years later he became lieutenant-general and finally general in 1853.

Political career

Apart from his military career Beauchamp also entered the British House of Commons in 1816, sitting as Member of Parliament for Worcestershire until 1831. He represented the county also as a Deputy Lieutenant. Beauchamp was returned to the House for the new established constituency Worcestershire West in 1832, a seat he held until 1853. The latter year he succeeded his elder brother John in the earldom and took his seat in the House of Lords.

Family

Lord Beauchamp married Lady Susan Caroline, second daughter of William Eliot, 2nd Earl of St Germans, in 1824. They had three sons and three daughters. Lady Susan died in January 1835, aged 37. Lord Beauchamp remained a widower until his death in September 1863, aged 79. He was succeeded in the earldom by his second but eldest surviving son, Henry.

References

• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages }

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• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs }

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External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Henry Lygon