George Byng (1764–1847)
George Byng DL JP (17 May 1764 – 10 January 1847) was a British Whig politician. He lived at Wrotham Park in Middlesex (now part of Hertfordshire) and at Wentworth House in London.
He was the eldest son of George Byng and Anne Conolly. His family traced back to Admiral George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington. His younger brother was Field Marshal John Byng, who became the Earl of Strafford in 1847.
In 1780 he began studying at Göttingen University, where he was taught by Georg Christoph Lichtenberg. He entered politics and was elected Member of Parliament for Middlesex in 1790, a seat he held for 57 years until his death. In his early years he was friends with Charles James Fox.
From 1832 to 1847 he was Father of the House of Commons. He was offered a peerage to help the Whigs in the Lords before the 1832 Reform Act but he refused. He also served as Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace for Middlesex.
In 1797 he married Harriet Montgomery, daughter of Sir William Montgomery, but they had no children. George Byng died on 10 January 1847, aged 82. His heir was his younger brother, John Byng, who was raised to the peerage as the Earl of Strafford in 1847.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 06:39 (CET).