George Byng (1764–1847)
Quick Facts
Biography
George Byng DL JP (17 May 1764 – 10 January 1847), 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. His mother was Anne, daughter of William Conolly, while John Byng, 1st Earl of Strafford, was his younger brother. He was educated at Göttingen University from 1780 and a scholar of Georg Christoph Lichtenberg there.
Political career
Byng was returned to Parliament for Middlesex in 1790, a seat he held until his death 57 years later. During his early years he was an associate of Charles James Fox. Between 1832 and 1847 he was Father of the House of Commons. He was offered a peerage in order to increase the Whig majority in the House of Lords prior to the 1832 Reform Act, but refused. He was also a Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace for Middlesex.
Marriage
Byng married Harriet Montgomery. They had no children. He died in January 1847, aged 82.