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 Right Honourable The Lord Wenlock GCSI GCIE KCB VD PC | |
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Governor of Madras | |
In office 23 January 1891 – 18 March 1896 | |
Governor-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 | (1849-05-12)12 May 1849 London, England |
Died | 15 January 1912(1912-01-15) (aged 62) Portland Place, London, England |
Political party | Conservative Party |
Spouse | Lady Constance Mary Lascelles (1882–1912) |
Alma mater | Eton College, Cambridge University |
Lawley 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.
Wenlock 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.
In 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]
In 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]
In 1872 he married Lady Constance Mary Lascelles, (1852–1932), 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.[16] The Forbes-Adam family retain the Escrick estate which they now operate as a holiday and pleasure park.[17]
He was succeeded in the Barony by his brother Richard.
Lord Wenlock received several British Orders and decorations:
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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Preceded by Henry Cecil Raikes John George Dodson |
Member of Parliament for Chester 1880 With: Henry Cecil Raikes |
Vacant Suspension until 1885 Title next held by Balthazar Walter Foster |
Military offices | ||
Preceded by The Lord Herries of Terregles |
Honorary Colonel of the East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry 1908–1912 |
Succeeded by J.B. Stacey-Clitheroe |
New title | Honorary Colonel of the 2nd East Riding Artillery Volunteers 1881–1908 |
Vacant Renamed |
New title | Honorary Colonel of the 2nd Northumbrian Brigade RFA 1908–1912 |
Vacant Title next held by O. Sanderson |
Government offices | ||
Preceded by John Henry Garstin |
Governor of Madras 1891–1895 |
Succeeded by Sir Arthur Havelock |
Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
Preceded by Beilby Richard Lawley |
Baron Wenlock 1880–1912 |
Succeeded by Richard Lawley |
General | |
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National libraries |