George Byng, 7th Viscount Torrington

George Byng, 7th Viscount Torrington (9 September 1812 – 27 April 1884), was a British colonial administrator and courtier.

The Right Honourable
The Viscount Torrington
"A man of the world". Caricature by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1876.
9th Governor of British Ceylon
In office
29 May 1847 – 8 October 1850
MonarchQueen Victoria
Preceded byJames Emerson Tennent
(Acting governor)
Succeeded byCharles Justin MacCarthy
(Acting governor)
Personal details
Born9 September 1812
Died27 April 1884 (1884-04-28) (aged 71)

Family

Torrington was the son of Vice-Admiral George Byng, 6th Viscount Torrington (1768-1831).[1]

He succeeded his father in the viscountcy in 1831 at the age of eighteen. On 19 March 1833 he married Mary Anne, only daughter of Sir John Astley, 1st Baronet. Their only daughter, Frances Elizabeth, died on 2 September 1853. Lady Torrington died on 26 January 1885.[1]

Career

In 1847 he was appointed Governor of Ceylon, a post he held until 1850.[1] There he is known for his brutal suppression of the 1848 civil uprising, committing crimes against humanity,[2] which led to his interdiction. He later served as a Permanent Lord-in-waiting to Albert, Prince Consort from 1853 to 1859 and to Queen Victoria from 1859 to 1884.[1]

He served as Lieutenant-Colonel of the West Kent Light Infantry Militia (later the 3rd and 4th Battalions, Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)) in the 1850s, was appointed as the regiment's Honorary Colonel in 1869.[1][3]

He was the companion of Andalusia Molesworth after she became a widow. When she died she left her fortune to Byng's nephew and heir as she was estranged from her ex-husband's family.[4]

Death and burial

He died on 27 April 1884,[1] aged 71 and was buried in the churchyard of St. Lawrence's Church, Mereworth, Kent.[5]

Succession

He was succeeded in the viscountcy by his nephew George Byng, 8th Viscount Torrington.

References
  1. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 100th Edn, London, 1953.
  2. Katherine Prior, ‘Anderson, Sir George William (1791–1857)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
  3. Army List, various dates.
  4. "Molesworth [née Carstairs; other married name West], Andalusia Grant, Lady Molesworth (c. 1809–1888), society hostess | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/47908. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. "Arrangements for this day". The Morning Post. No. 34901. 2 May 1884. p. 5.
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