George Byng, 7th Viscount Torrington
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 | |
| Monarch | Queen Victoria |
| Preceded by | James Emerson Tennent (Acting governor) |
| Succeeded by | Charles Justin MacCarthy (Acting governor) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 September 1812 |
| Died | 27 April 1884 (aged 71) |
George Byng, 7th Viscount Torrington (9 September 1812 – 27 April 1884), was a British colonial administrator and courtier.
Origins[]
Torrington was the son of Vice-Admiral George Byng, 6th Viscount Torrington (1768-1831).
Career[]
He succeeded his father in the viscountcy in 1831 at the age of eighteen. In 1847 he was appointed Governor of Ceylon, a post he held until 1850. There he is known for his harsh suppression of the 1848 civil uprising.[1] 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.
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.[2]
Death and burial[]
He died in April 1884, aged 71 and was buried in the churchyard of St. Lawrence's Church, Mereworth, Kent.[3]
Succession[]
He was succeeded in the viscountcy by his nephew George Byng, 8th Viscount Torrington.
References[]
- ^ Katherine Prior, ‘Anderson, Sir George William (1791–1857)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
- ^ "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.)
- ^ "Arrangements for this day". The Morning Post (34901). 2 May 1884. p. 5.
- Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages [self-published source][better source needed]
- www.thepeerage.com
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- Governors of British Ceylon
- 1812 births
- 1884 deaths
- Viscounts in the Peerage of Great Britain
- Byng family