George Weld-Forester, 3rd Baron Forester

General The Right Honourable
The Lord Forester
PC

Caricature of Lord Forester by Ape published in Vanity Fair in 1875.
Comptroller of the Household
In office
27 February 1852  17 December 1852
Monarch Victoria
Prime Minister The Earl of Derby
Preceded by The Earl of Mulgrave
Succeeded by Viscount Drumlanrig
In office
26 February 1858  11 June 1859
Monarch Victoria
Prime Minister The Earl of Derby
Preceded by Viscount Castlerosse
Succeeded by Lord Proby
Personal details
Born 10 May 1807
Died 14 February 1886 (1886-02-15) (aged 78)
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s) Hon. Mary Anne Jervis
(d. 1893)

George Cecil Weld-Forester, 3rd Baron Forester PC (10 May 1807 – 14 February 1886), styled The Honourable George Weld-Forester between 1821 and 1874, was a British Conservative politician and army officer. He notably served as Comptroller of the Household in 1852 and from 1858 to 1859. A long-standing MP, he was Father of the House of Commons from 1873 to 1874, when he succeeded his elder brother in the barony and took a seat in the House of Lords.

Background

Weld-Forester, born at Sackville Street, London[1] was the second son of Cecil Weld-Forester, 1st Baron Forester, and Lady Katherine Mary Manners, daughter of Charles Manners, 4th Duke of Rutland. His elder brother John Weld-Forester, 2nd Baron Forester, was also a Tory politician.[2] Both the brothers had, as godfather at the same christening, the Prince of Wales, later King George IV, a personal friend of their father.[3]

He was educated at Westminster School.[1]

Military career

Weld-Forester entered the British Army on commission in 1824, and became Lieutenant-Colonel of the Royal Horse Guards in 1853. He was promoted to staff rank as Major-General in 1863 and Lieutenant-General in 1871, retiring, aged seventy, as full General in 1877 but he saw no campaign service.[1]

Political career

Weld-Forester succeeded his brother as Member of Parliament for Wenlock in 1828, a seat he would hold for 46 years.[2][4] He had been Groom of the Bedchamber to William IV from 1830 to 1831[1] and served in the first two Conservative administrations of the Earl of Derby as Comptroller of the Household between February[5] and December 1852[6] and from 1858[7] to 1859.[8] He was admitted to the Privy Council in 1852.[9] In 1873 he became Father of the House of Commons as the longest-serving member (then 45 years) of the House.[10] The following year he succeeded his elder brother as third Baron Forester and entered the House of Lords.[2]

Personal life

Lord Forester married the Honourable Mary Anne Jervis, daughter of Edward Jervis, 2nd Viscount St Vincent and widow of David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre, in 1862. They had no children. He died at 3 Carlton Gardens, London, in February 1886, aged 78, and was buried at Willey parish church.[1] He was succeeded in the barony by his younger brother, Reverend Orlando Weld-Forester. Lady Forester died in March 1893.[2] The Lady Foresters Convalescent Home in Llandudno was opened in Lord Forester's honour in 1902.[11][12]

References

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Hon. John Weld-Forester
Paul Thompson
Member of Parliament for Wenlock
with Paul Thompson 18281832
James Milnes Gaskell 18321868
Alexander Hargreaves Brown 18681874

18281874
Succeeded by
Alexander Hargreaves Brown
Cecil Weld-Forester
Preceded by
Hon. Henry Lowry-Corry
Father of the House of Commons
18731874
Succeeded by
Christopher Talbot
Political offices
Preceded by
The Earl of Mulgrave
Comptroller of the Household
1852
Succeeded by
Viscount Drumlanrig
Preceded by
Viscount Castlerosse
Comptroller of the Household
18581859
Succeeded by
Lord Proby
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
John George Weld Weld-Forester
Baron Forester
1874–1886
Succeeded by
Orlando Watkin Weld-Forester
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