Francis Byng, 5th Earl of Strafford

Rev. Francis Edmund Cecil Byng, 5th Earl of Strafford (15 January 1835 – 18 January 1918) was an English Anglican minister and member of the peerage.

Byng was born 15 January 1835, third son of George Byng, 2nd Earl of Strafford. He was educated at Eton (where he took a Prince Albert Prize for Modem Languages) and Christ Church, Oxford, where he studied law and modern history.

After taking holy orders, Byng became the rector of Little Casterton, Rutland from 1859–62; served as vicar of Holy Trinity in Twickenham and chaplain at Hampton Court from 1862-67. He was appointed an honorary chaplain to Queen Victoria in 1867 and Chaplain-in-Ordinary in 1872; then served as Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons from 1874-89. In 1867 Byng was appointed vicar of the high church St. Peter's Church, Cranley Gardens, by Charles James Freake (who had the living of the church). He remained vicar of St. Peter's, which became fashionable ("His fine presence, his beautiful voice and his high birth made him a favourite of the couples that were going to get married.") through 1889; and kept up a long correspondence with the former organist of St. Peter's, Sir Arthur Sullivan. In 1889 Bing was elected Grand Chaplain of Freemasonry in England.

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