The Earl of Shrewsbury | |
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Lord High Steward of Ireland | |
Assumed office 12 November 1980 [1] | |
Member of the House of Lords | |
Lord Temporal | |
as a hereditary peer 16 February 1981 –11 November 1999 | |
Preceded by | The 21st Earl of Shrewsbury |
Succeeded by | Seat abolished |
as an elected hereditary peer 11 November 1999 –present | |
Preceded by | Seat established |
Personal details | |
Born | Charles Henry John Benedict Crofton Chetwynd Chetwynd-Talbot 18 December 1952 Ingestre Hall,Staffordshire |
Nationality | English |
Political party | Independent (since 2022) |
Other political affiliations | Conservative (prior to 2022) |
Spouse | Deborah Jane Hutchinson (m. 1973) |
Children | 3 |
Parent(s) | John Chetwynd-Talbot, 21st Earl of Shrewsbury Nadine Crofton |
Education | Harrow School [1] |
Charles Henry John Benedict Crofton Chetwynd Chetwynd-Talbot, 22nd Earl of Shrewsbury, 22nd Earl of Waterford, 7th Earl Talbot, DL (born 18 December 1952), styled Viscount Ingestre until 1980, is an English nobleman and the Lord High Steward of Ireland. He is the premier earl in the Peerage of England as the Earl of Shrewsbury (created 1442), and in the Peerage of Ireland as the Earl of Waterford (1446). He also holds the titles of Earl Talbot and Baron Talbot. [2]
In 2022, the Conduct Committee recommended that he be suspended from the House of Lords for nine months for financial misconduct. Consequently, he could not play his customary role as the hereditary Lord High Steward of Ireland at the coronation of King Charles III. The Conservative whip was removed.
Shrewsbury is the fifth child and eldest son of John Chetwynd-Talbot, 21st Earl of Shrewsbury, and his first wife, Nadine Crofton, a daughter of Brigadier General Cyril Randell Crofton. Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, was his godfather. His parents divorced in 1963. He was educated at Harrow School. [2]
He is a direct descendant of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, 1st Earl of Waterford, 7th Baron Talbot KG (c. 1387–1453), an English military commander of the Hundred Years' War. [1]
Shrewsbury joined the House of Lords when he succeeded to his father's peerages in 1980, at that time enjoying the automatic right to sit in parliament. He lost the right as a result of the reforms of the House of Lords Act 1999, but is one of the 92 hereditary peers elected at that time to sit in the Lords. He has served as a whip for the Conservatives. [1]
From 1992 to 1998, Shrewsbury was the first chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton and was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. [3]
In 1994 he was appointed a Deputy to the Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire, Sir James Hawley. [1]
He is High Steward of Sheffield Cathedral, a former president of the Staffordshire Historic Churches Trust, patron or honorary president of a number of charities or voluntary bodies, and patron of ten Church of England benefices. [1]
An enthusiastic supporter of country sports, Shrewsbury is a former president of the Gun Trade Association and remains deputy-chairman of the Standing Conference on Country Sports. He is a liveryman of three City of London livery companies: the companies of Weavers, Gunmakers and Blacksmiths. He is a former chairman of the Firearms Consultative Committee at the Home Office, and former chairman and president of the British Shooting Sports Council. Shrewsbury has sold manorial titles. [4] [5] [6]
He retired as director and deputy chairman of the Britannia Building Society and then was appointed as president of the Building Societies Association. [7]
In April 2022, the House of Lords Commissioner for Standards began an investigation into an allegation that Shrewsbury had failed to comply with rules preventing peers from profiting financially from their membership of the Lords. [8] He was largely exonerated in May, [9] when the Commissioner concluded that he was guilty of a minor breach of the peers' Code of Conduct and ordered him to write a letter of apology. [10]
In August 2022, the House of Lords commissioners for standards launched a second investigation into Shrewsbury's dealings with SpectrumX, [11] a healthcare firm that had paid him £3,000 a month between the summer of 2020 and January 2022, after leaked documents revealed that he had boasted of "very considerable" potential to open doors for SpectrumX, through what he described as his "high-level contacts". [9]
In September 2022, the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists concluded that Shrewsbury had failed to register his company, Talbot Consulting Ltd, before contacting Lady Barran, a junior minister at the Department for Culture Media and Sport, and Alex Burghart, a junior education minister, regarding SpectrumX. The registrar found that Shrewsbury had contravened the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014. [12]
In October 2022, it was revealed that Shrewsbury had failed to register that he was being paid by SpectrumX. This contradicted his earlier claims that he had reported his financial interest when promoting a SpectrumX product in 2021. [13] On 16 December 2022, the House of Lords Conduct Committee recommended that he be suspended from the House of Lords for nine months after being paid £57,000 over two years to lobby ministers and officials, which was described as "extremely serious" misconduct that damaged the reputation of the House of Lords. [14]
On 5 January 1973, Shrewsbury married Deborah Jane Hutchinson, a daughter of Noel Staughton Hutchinson and Jenifer Hutchinson of Ellerton, Shropshire. They have three children: [1] [2]
Shrewsbury and his family live near Ashbourne in Derbyshire – a house a few yards into Staffordshire. [7] Lady Shrewsbury was High Sheriff of Staffordshire in 2001–2002. [15]
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Earl of Shrewsbury is a hereditary title of nobility created twice in the Peerage of England. The second earldom dates to 1442. The holder of the Earldom of Shrewsbury also holds the title of Earl of Waterford (1446) in the Peerage of Ireland and Earl Talbot (1784) in the Peerage of Great Britain. Shrewsbury and Waterford are the oldest earldoms in their peerages held by someone with no higher title, and as such the Earl of Shrewsbury is sometimes described as the premier earl of England and Ireland.
Earl Talbot is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. This branch of the Talbot family descends from the Hon. Sir Gilbert Talbot, third son of John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury. His great-great-great-grandson, the Right Reverend William Talbot, was Bishop of Oxford, of Salisbury and of Durham. His eldest son Charles Talbot was a prominent lawyer and politician. In 1733, he was raised to the Peerage of Great Britain as Lord Talbot, Baron of Hensol, in the County of Glamorgan, and then served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain from 1733 to 1737.
Viscount Chetwynd, of Bearhaven in the County of Kerry, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1717 for Walter Chetwynd, with remainder to the issue male of his father John Chetwynd. He was made Baron Rathdowne, in the County of Dublin, at the same time, also in the Peerage of Ireland and with the same remainder. Chetwynd notably represented Stafford in the House of Commons on three occasions between 1702 and 1734, and also served as ambassador to Turin. He was succeeded according to the special remainders by his younger brother, the second Viscount, who sat as a Member of Parliament for St Mawes, Stockbridge and, from 1738 to 1747 for Stafford and served as ambassador to Madrid.
Major Charles Henry John Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury, 20th Earl of Waterford, 5th Earl Talbot, KCVO, styled Viscount Ingestre from 1868 to 1877, was a British peer. Unusually for a wealthy nobleman of the period, he began several businesses connected with road transport, with mixed success.
South Staffordshire was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.
Charles Augustus Stanhope, 8th Earl of Harrington, known as Viscount Petersham from 1866 to 1881, was a British peer and successful polo player.
The office of Lord High Steward of Ireland is a hereditary position of Great Officer of State in the United Kingdom. Currently held by the Earl of Shrewsbury, it is sometimes referred to as the Hereditary Great Seneschal. While most of Ireland achieved independence in 1922, the title retains its original naming and scope rather than adjusting to reflect Northern Ireland as the sole portion of the province of Ulster remaining within the United Kingdom.
Talbot is an English Old French–origin surname. Notable people with the name include:
Ingestre Hall is a Grade II* 17th-century Jacobean mansion situated at Ingestre, near Stafford, Staffordshire, England. Formerly the seat of the Earls Talbot and then the Earls of Shrewsbury, the hall is now owned by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council and is in use as a residential arts and conference centre.
Henry John Chetwynd-Talbot, 18th Earl of Shrewsbury, 18th Earl of Waterford, 3rd Earl Talbot, CB, PC, styled Viscount Ingestre between 1826 and 1849 and known as the Earl Talbot between 1849 and 1858, was a British naval commander and Conservative politician.
The Chetwynd Baronetcy, of Brocton Hall in the County of Stafford, is a title in the Baronetage of Great Britain. It was created on 1 May 1795 for Sir George Chetwynd, Kt., of Brocton Hall, Staffordshire, for many years Clerk to the Privy Council. The second Baronet was member of parliament for Stafford and High Sheriff of Warwickshire in 1828. The fourth Baronet served as High Sheriff of Warwickshire in 1875. As of 13 June 2007 the presumed ninth Baronet has not successfully proven his succession and is therefore not on the Official Roll of the Baronetage, with the baronetcy dormant since 2004.
Charles John Chetwynd-Talbot, 19th Earl of Shrewsbury, 19th Earl of Waterford, 4th Earl Talbot, PC, styled Viscount Ingestre between 1849 and 1868, was a British Conservative politician. He served as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms under Benjamin Disraeli between 1875 and 1877.
Charles Chetwynd Chetwynd-Talbot, 2nd Earl Talbot, KG, PC, FRS, styled Viscount of Ingestre between 1784 and 1793, was an English politician and peer. He served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland between 1817 and 1821.
John Chetwynd, 2nd Viscount Chetwynd was a British diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1715 and 1747.
Ingestre is a village and civil parish in the Stafford district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 194. It is four miles to the north-east of the county town of Stafford.
John Talbot, 1st Earl Talbot, known as John Talbot until 1782 and as The Lord Talbot between 1782 and 1784, was a British peer and politician.
John George Chetwynd-Talbot, 21st Earl of Shrewsbury, 21st Earl of Waterford, 6th Earl Talbot, styled Viscount of Ingestre from 1915 to 1921, was a British peer.
Nadine Muriel, Countess of Shrewsbury, known professionally as Nadine Talbot and later as Nadine Credi, was an English opera soprano and the first wife of John Chetwynd-Talbot, 21st Earl of Shrewsbury (1914–1980). They married in 1936.
Gilbert Talbot, 13th Earl of Shrewsbury was an English Jesuit priest, nobleman, and peer, also known as Father Grey.
Theresa Susey Helen Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Marchioness of Londonderry was a British socialite and political hostess. She was a leading Unionist campaigner against Irish Home Rule, serving as president of the Ulster Women's Unionist Council from 1913 to 1919. She was said to be one of the most "dominating feminine personalities" of the time and was referred to as the "Queen of Toryism" and a "highwaywoman in a tiara."
The Honorary position of Chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton was created following the grant of University title in 1992