Viscount Torrington
Encyclopedia
Peerage of Great Britain
The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain after the Act of Union 1707 but before the Act of Union 1800...
. It was created in 1721 for the statesman Sir George Byng, 1st Baronet
George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington
Admiral of the Fleet George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington, KB PC was a British naval officer and statesman of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. His career included service as First Lord of the Admiralty during the reign of King George II.-Naval career:Byng was born at Wrotham, Kent, England...
, along with the subsidiary title Baron Byng, of Southill in the County of Bedford, also in the Peerage of Great Britain. He had already been created a Baronet, of Wrotham in the County of Kent, in the Baronetage of Great Britain in 1715. His eldest son, the second Viscount, represented Plymouth
Plymouth (UK Parliament constituency)
Plymouth was a parliamentary borough in Devon, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in 1298 and again from 1442 until 1918, when the borough was merged with the neighbouring Devonport and the combined area divided into three single-member constituencies.-In the...
and Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Bedfordshire was a United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency, which elected two Members of Parliament from 1295 until 1885, when it was divided into two constituencies under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.-History:...
in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
and later served as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard
The Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard is a UK government post usually held by the Government Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Lords...
from 1746 to 1747. His younger brother, the third Viscount, was a Major-General in the Army. His grandson, the sixth Viscount, was a Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. His son, the seventh Viscount, served as Governor of Ceylon
Governor of Ceylon
The British Governor of Ceylon was an official who ruled Ceylon during the British colonial period between 1798 and 1948....
between 1847 and 1850.
On his death the titles passed to his nephew, the eighth Viscount, the son of Hon. Robert Barlow Palmer Byng, third son of the sixth Viscount. He was succeeded by his son, the ninth Viscount. However, this line of the family failed on his death in 1944 and the titles passed to the late Viscount's first cousin, the tenth Viscount. As of 2009 the titles are held by the latter's grandson, the eleventh Viscount, who succeeded on his grandfather's death in 1961.
Several other members of the Byng family have also gained distinction. The Hon. Robert Byng
Robert Byng
Robert Byng was the third son of George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington by his wife Margaret Master. On 19 December 1734 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Jonathan Forward, and by her had issue, including an eldest son, George, born 1735. This George, later of Wrotham Park, was the father of John...
, third son of the first Viscount, was Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Plymouth. He was the father of George Byng, radical Member of Parliament for Middlesex
Middlesex (UK Parliament constituency)
Middlesex is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885....
. He was the father of George Byng
George Byng (1764–1847)
George Byng DL JP , of Wrotham Park, Hertfordshire, was a British Whig politician.-Background:Byng was the son of George Byng, son of the Hon. Robert Byng, third son of Admiral George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington...
, Father of the House of Commons
Father of the House
Father of the House is a term that has by tradition been unofficially bestowed on certain members of some national legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the term refers to the oldest member, but in others it refers the longest-serving member.The...
, and John Byng, 1st Earl of Strafford
John Byng, 1st Earl of Strafford
Field Marshal John Byng, 1st Earl of Strafford, GCB, GCH, PC was a British peer, politician and soldier.-Early years:...
. The soldier Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, was the youngest son of the second Earl of Strafford. Admiral the Hon. John Byng
John Byng
Admiral John Byng was a Royal Navy officer. After joining the navy at the age of thirteen he participated at the Battle of Cape Passaro in 1718. Over the next thirty years he built up a reputation as a solid naval officer and received promotion to Vice-Admiral in 1747...
, who was controversially court-martialled and shot in 1757, was the fourth son of the first Viscount Torrington.
The family seat is Great Hunts Place, near Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
.
Viscounts Torrington (1721)
- George Byng, 1st Viscount TorringtonGeorge Byng, 1st Viscount TorringtonAdmiral of the Fleet George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington, KB PC was a British naval officer and statesman of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. His career included service as First Lord of the Admiralty during the reign of King George II.-Naval career:Byng was born at Wrotham, Kent, England...
(1663–1733) - Pattee Byng, 2nd Viscount TorringtonPattee Byng, 2nd Viscount TorringtonPattee Byng, 2nd Viscount Torrington, PC , was a British naval officer and statesman of the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
(1699–1747) - George Byng, 3rd Viscount TorringtonGeorge Byng, 3rd Viscount TorringtonMajor General George Byng, 3rd Viscount Torrington , styled The Honourable from 1721 to 1747, was a British Army officer and peer. He was the son of Admiral George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington. He married Elizabeth Daniel, granddaughter of Sir Peter Daniel, on 21 August 1736...
(1701–1750) - George Byng, 4th Viscount TorringtonGeorge Byng, 4th Viscount TorringtonGeorge Byng was the 4th Viscount Torrington, son of George Byng, 3rd Viscount Torrington and Elizabeth Daniel.He gained the title 4th Viscount Torrington at the death of his father in 1750....
(1740–1812) - John Byng, 5th Viscount TorringtonJohn Byng, 5th Viscount TorringtonJohn Byng, 5th Viscount Torrington , styled Hon. John Byng until 1812, was one of the most notable of English eighteenth-century diarists...
(1743–1813) - George Byng, 6th Viscount TorringtonGeorge Byng, 6th Viscount TorringtonGeorge Byng, 6th Viscount Torrington was a Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy. His son, the seventh Viscount, served as Governor of Ceylon between 1847 and 1850....
(1768–1831) - George Byng, 7th Viscount TorringtonGeorge Byng, 7th Viscount TorringtonGeorge Byng, 7th Viscount Torrington , was a British colonial administrator and courtier.Torrington was the son of Vice-Admiral George Byng, 6th Viscount Torrington, and succeeded his father in the viscountcy in 1831 at the age of eighteen. In 1847 he was appointed Governor of Ceylon, a post he...
(1812–1884) - George Stanley Byng, 8th Viscount TorringtonGeorge Byng, 8th Viscount TorringtonGeorge Stanley Byng, 8th Viscount Torrington , known as George Byng until 1884, was a British Conservative politician....
(1841–1889) - George Master Byng, 9th Viscount Torrington (1886–1944)
- Arthur Stanley Byng, 10th Viscount Torrington (1876–1961)
- Timothy Howard St George Byng, 11th Viscount Torrington (b. 1943)
The heir presumptive
Heir Presumptive
An heir presumptive or heiress presumptive is the person provisionally scheduled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir or heiress apparent or of a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question...
is the present holder's fifth cousin Colin Hugh Byng (b. 1960), who lives in Toronto. He is the great-great-great-grandson of Vice-Admiral the Hon. Henry Dilkes Byng, fourth son of the fifth Viscount.
The heir presumptive's heir apparent
Heir apparent
An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....
is his son eldest John Nicolas Byng (b. 1990)