Death of Lord Barrington the 7th Viscount

Reading Mercury

 

Saturday, 13th Nov, 1886

 

Death of Viscount Barrington

 

We deeply regret to announce the sudden death of Viscount Barrington which occurred on Saturday night. His Lordship had joined Lord Aveland’s shooting party at Grimsthorpe, Lady Willoughby d’Eresby’s place in Lincolnshire, and was suddenly taken ill on Saturday. Lady Barrington was immediately sent for, and arrived only just in time to see her husband expire. The sad event cast a deep gloom over the family and a wide circle of friends.

 

The deceased peer, George William Barrington, Viscount Barrington of Ardglass, county Down, and Baron Barrington, of Newcastle, county Dublin, in the Peerage of Ireland, and Baron Shute, of Beckett, Berks, in that of the United Kingdon, was the eldest of the four sons of William Keppel, sixth Viscount, by his wife Jane Elizabeth, fourth daughter of Thomas Henry, first Lord Ravensworth, and was born on the 14th February, 1824. He was for some time private secretary to the Late Earl of Derby. He was an unsuccessful candidate in the Conservative interest for Buckingham in May, 1852, but was elected for Eye in July, 1866. He succeeded to the Irish peerage on the death of his father in February 1867. He sat for Eye in the House of Commons until April 1880, when he was created a Baron of the United Kingdom (with remainder to his brother) by the style and title of Baron Shute. On the formation of Mr Disraeli’s administration in 1874 he was appointed Vice Chamberlain of her Majesty’s Household, and was made a Privy Councillor and he held the office till the government went out in May, 1880. He held the post of Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard during Lord Salisbury’s government last year and on the formation of the present government he was appointed  Captain of the Hon Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms. He was appointed Deputy Lieutenant for Berks in 1852. He was formerly a Lieutenant 

in the Royal Wilts Yeomanry Cavalry. The deceased married in February, 1846, Isabel Elizabeth, only child of the late Mr John Morritt, of Rokeby Hall, York, and by her, who survives his Lordship, he leaves issue, three daughters – the Hon Constance, married to Lord Haldon; the Hon Evelyn, married to the Earl of Craven (who died in 1883); and the Hon Florence. The deceased is succeeded in the Irish and English honours by the eldest of his brothers the Hon Percy Barrington, who was born in April, 1825, and who married in 1845, Louisa, only daughter and heir of Mr Tully Higgins. This lady died in 1884. The new peer was formerly in the Scots Fusilier Guards, but retired from the army in 1844. He is a Deputy Lieutenant for Oxfordshire. He has been for some time Captain of the Oxfordshire Militia, and a Lieutenant in the 3rd Bucks Rifle Volunteers. He served as High Sheriff of Bucks in 1864. The younger brothers, the Hon William and Hon Eric Barrington, are in her Majesty’s Diplomatic service.

 

Lord Barrington’s death (remarks the Morning Post) will leave marks of mourning far beyond those directly connected with the houses of Ravensworth and others. He was one of those men who by their untiring work helped forward the great constitutional machine. During Lord Beaconsfield’s tenure of office he held the post of Reporter of the Debates in Parliament to her Majesty the Queen, and often during his lifetime he earned the approbation of his Sovereign. His popularity in the London world and his mastery of all social matters insured him a position such as few could pretend to rival. His sound judgment and accurate determination of all matters submitted to his arbitration made him one of the few men of the world whose word was a fiat.

 

The Funeral.

 

The funeral of the lamented Viscount Barrington took place on Thursday afternoon, in the churchyard of Shrivenham, amid marked demonstrations of regret. The body, which had been removed from Lincolnshire to Beckett Hall, was conveyed on an open bier to the parish church. At the churchyard entrance, the body was met by the Bishop of Lichfield and the Rev G.W. Murray, Vicar of Shrivenham, who performed the service, and who preceded the coffin into the church, the choir chanting the opening sentences of the solemn office for the Burial of the Dead. During the service, Hymn No 429 (Ancient and Modern) was sung by the choir. Her Majesty the Queen was represented by the Hon A. Yorke and HRH the Prince of Wales by Colonel Stanley Clarke. (It then proceeds to go through a long list of those present).

 

Although the day was wet and gloomy in the extreme, the attendance was very large and influential, and included a large number of gentry, clergy and farmers of the neighbourhood. Wreaths and crosses of flowers were sent by friends from all parts of the kingdom.