Richard Fellowes Benyon (17 November 1811 – 26 July 1897), born Richard Fellowes, was a British Conservative politician and civil servant.
Richard was born at Haveringland Hall in Norfolk, the third son of William Henry Fellowes of Ramsey Abbey in Huntingdonshire and his wife, Emma, sister of Richard Benyon De Beauvoir of Englefield House in Berkshire.
He inherited this latter property (16,000 acres, worth 20,004 guineas rental per annum) and its associated estates upon his uncle's death in 1854 and changed his name to Benyon.
Educated at Charterhouse and St. John's College, Cambridge, he was a member of Boodle's, Carlton and Conservative London clubs.
In 1857, he was appointed High Sheriff of Berkshire, and was the Chairman of the County's Quarter Sessions in 1864. In 1860, he was elected the Member of Parliament for Berkshire, a position he held until his resignation in 1876. He was a patron of the Society for the Suppression of Mendicity, the National Society for School Furniture, and the Oxford Diocesan Society for the Augmentation of Small Livings.
By his wife, Elizabeth Mary Clutterbuck, he had three daughters, and upon his death in 1897, his estates were inherited by his nephew, James Herbert Benyon. Meanwhile, his daughter Marion Emma had married Sir John Shelley, 9th Bt., and as a result of her cousins' own lack of sons with children, her younger son inherited Englefield in 1959. Thereby Richard Fellowes Benyon's great-grandson and eventual heir became Sir William Richard Benyon, whose son Richard Henry Ronald Benyon was MP for Newbury from 2005 to 2019 and inherited Englefield House.
References
- ^ Bateman, John (1883). The Great Landowners of Great Britain and Ireland.
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Richard Fellowes Benyon
- Portrait at Berkshire Record Office
- Royal Berkshire History: Englefield House
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byPhilip Pleydell-Bouverie John Walter Leicester Viney Vernon |
Member of Parliament for Berkshire 1860–1876 With: Philip Pleydell-Bouverie 1860–1865 John Walter 1860–1865, 1868–1876 Robert Loyd-Lindsay 1860–1876 Sir Charles Russell 1865–1868 |
Succeeded byRobert Loyd-Lindsay John Walter Philip Wroughton |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded byGeorge Barker | High Sheriff of Berkshire 1857 |
Succeeded byHenry Richard Eyre |
- 1811 births
- 1897 deaths
- Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
- High sheriffs of Berkshire
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Berkshire
- People from Englefield, Berkshire
- People from Broadland (district)
- UK MPs 1859–1865
- UK MPs 1865–1868
- UK MPs 1868–1874
- UK MPs 1874–1880
- People educated at Charterhouse School
- Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
- Benyon family