Fiennes Cornwallis, 1st Baron Cornwallis


Fiennes Stanley Wykeham Cornwallis, 1st Baron Cornwallis, was a British Conservative politician.

Early life

Lord Cornwallis was born 27 May 1864 at Chacombe Priory, Banbury, Oxfordshire, the eldest son of Fiennes Cornwallis and Harriet Elizabeth. He had one brother and two sisters and was educated at Eton College.

Political career

He was elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Maidstone in 1888, a seat he held until 1895 and again from 1898 to 1900. He was also chairman of the Kent County Council between 1910 and 1930. In 1927 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Cornwallis, of Linton in the County of Kent, where his country house, Linton Park, was situated.

Family life

Lord Cornwallis married Mabel Leigh, daughter of Oswald Peter Leigh, in 1886. They had seven children, three sons and four daughters.
Fiennes Wykeham Mann Cornwallis was killed in Ireland in May 1921 during the Irish War of Independence. Lord Cornwallis was succeeded in the barony by his second son, Wykeham Stanley. Lady Cornwallis died in 1957.
Cornwallis was the grandson of Charles Wykeham Martin; the great-grandson of James Mann, 5th Earl Cornwallis; the 2nd great-grandson of James Cornwallis, 4th Earl Cornwallis; the 3rd great-grandson of Charles Cornwallis, 1st Earl Cornwallis; the 4th great-grandson of Charles Cornwallis, 4th Baron Cornwallis; the 5th great-grandson of Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis; the 6th great-grandson of Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Baron Cornwallis; the 7th great-grandson of Frederick Cornwallis, 1st Baron Cornwallis; and the 8th great-grandson of Jane Cornwallis, and Elizabeth Richardson, 1st Lady Cramond. His other ancestors include Edward Cornwallis, Frederick Cornwallis, Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, William Cornwallis, Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Marquess Cornwallis, and Philip Wykeham Martin.

Freemasonry

Was an eminent Freemason and was Provincial Grand master of Kent and a Past Grand Warden in the United Grand Lodge of England.
Stanley Wykeham Lodge 6599 was named for him.