British businessman, courtier and politician
Henry Strutt, 2nd Baron Belper, (20 May 1840 – 26 July 1914), styled The Honourable Henry Strutt between 1856 and 1880, was a British businessman, courtier and politician. Initially a Liberal, he left the party over Irish Home Rule and later held office as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms from 1895 to 1905 in the Unionist administrations headed by Lord Salisbury and Arthur Balfour.
Background and education.
Henry Strutt was born at St Helen's House, Derby, Derbyshire, the son of Edward Strutt, 1st Baron Belper, and his wife, Amelia Harriet Otter. He was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, from which he held the degrees of LLB and MA. In 1862 he played cricket for Cambridge University and from 1863 to 1865 for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) against the universities. He became president of the family cotton business W. G. &amp; J. Strutt.
Capture by pirates.
Whilst on a hunting expedition with Lord John Hervey and Mr Coore he visited Astakos. They went to a more remote area in search of animals to shoot. Not expecting an encounter with brigands, they had not arranged for an escort of gendarmes on this occasion. Having been captured, the pirates agreed to release two of them with a ransome demand. Mr Coore was chosen by lot to remain a captive. Strutt and Hervey were released on parole with a demand for £3,000 in gold to secure Mr Coore's release. They returned with the support of HMS Chanticleer which remained out of sight while the release of Mr Coore was negotiated.
Political career.
Initially a Liberal, Strutt was elected Member of Parliament for East Derbyshire in 1868, a seat he held until 1874. At the 1880 general election he was returned for Berwick-upon-Tweed, which he represented until he succeeded his father in the barony on 30 June 1880 and entered the House of Lords.
Belper later left the Liberal Party over Irish Home Rule and joined the Liberal Unionists. When Lord Salisbury formed his last administration in 1895, Belper was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms, a post he held until the fall of the government in 1905, the last three years under the premiership of Arthur Balfour.
Belper was also an Aide-de-Camp to Queen Victoria, Edward VII and George V between 1894 and 1914. He was also a lieutenant-colonel in the South Nottinghamshire Yeomanry, a justice of the peace for Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire and a deputy lieutenant of Nottinghamshire.
Family.
Belper married Lady Margaret Coke, daughter of Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester, at Holkham, Norfolk, on 2 May 1874. They had three sons and five daughters:
Belper died at Kingston Hall, Nottinghamshire, in July 1914, aged 74, and was succeeded in the barony by his third but eldest surviving son, Algernon.
References.
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