The Right Honourable The Earl of Mount Edgcumbe GCVO, PC, DL |
|
---|---|
Lord Chamberlain of the Household | |
In office 7 May 1879 – 21 April 1880 |
|
Monarch | Victoria |
Prime Minister | The Earl of Beaconsfield |
Preceded by | The Marquess of Hertford |
Succeeded by | The Earl of Kenmare |
Lord Steward of the Household | |
In office 27 June 1885 – 28 January 1886 |
|
Monarch | Victoria |
Prime Minister | The Marquess of Salisbury |
Preceded by | The Earl Sydney |
Succeeded by | The Earl Sydney |
In office 16 August 1886 – 11 August 1892 |
|
Monarch | Victoria |
Prime Minister | The Marquess of Salisbury |
Preceded by | The Earl Sydney |
Succeeded by | The Marquess of Breadalbane |
Personal details | |
Born | 5 November 1833 |
Died | 25 September 1917 (aged 83) |
Nationality | British |
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse(s) | (1) Lady Katherine Hamilton (c. 1838-1874) (2) Caroline Edgcumbe (d. 1909) |
William Henry Edgcumbe, 4th Earl of Mount Edgcumbe GCVO, PC, DL (5 November 1833 – 25 September 1917), styled Viscount Valletort between 1839 and 1861, was a British courtier and Conservative politician.
Edgcumbe was the son of Ernest Edgcumbe, 3rd Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, and Caroline Augusta, daughter of Rear-Admiral Charles Feilding.
Edgcumbe was returned to Parliament for Plymouth in 1859, a seat he held until 1861 when he entered the House of Lords on the death of his father. In 1879 he sworn of the Privy Council and appointed Lord Chamberlain of the Household by the Earl of Beaconsfield, a post he held until the government fell in 1880. He later served under Lord Salisbury as Lord Steward of the Household between 1885 and 1886 and again between 1886 and 1892.
Edgcumbe was also an Aide-de-Camp to Queen Victoria from 1887 to 1897 and a Member of the Council to the Prince of Wales from 1901 to 1917 as well as Keeper of the Seal of the Duchy of Cornwall from 1907 to 1917. Between 1877 and 1917 he served as Lord-Lieutenant of Cornwall. He was also a Provincial Grand Master, an office held by the head of a Provincial Grand Lodge.