Background
Byng was the eldest son of George Byng, 2nd Earl of Strafford and his wife, Lady Agnes, daughter of Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey.
Byng was the eldest son of George Byng, 2nd Earl of Strafford and his wife, Lady Agnes, daughter of Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey.
He was educated at Eton and graduated from Christ Church, Oxford in 1852.
He served under Lord Russell as Parliamentary Secretary to the Poor Law Board between 1865 and 1866 and under William Ewart Gladstone as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs between 1871 and 1874. In 1874, Lord Enfield left the House of Commons when he was called up to the House of Lords in his father"s barony of Strafford. He again held office under Gladstone as a Lord-in-Waiting in 1880 and as Under-Secretary of State for India between 1880 and 1883.
Lord Strafford was also First Civil Service Commissioner from 1880 to 1888 and Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex from 1884 to 1888.
Throughout his political career, he served with the Middlesex Militia. He was the first President of Middlesex County Cricket Club serving twice between 1866 and 1876 and 1877 and 1898.
In 1886 he succeeded his father in the earldom of Strafford. Lord Strafford married Lady Alice Harriet Frederica, eldest daughter of Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere, on 25 July 1854.
They had no children.
The Countess of Strafford died in December 1928.
16th United Kingdom Parliament. 17th United Kingdom Parliament. 18th United Kingdom Parliament.
19th United Kingdom Parliament.
20th United Kingdom Parliament]
In 1852 Byng entered Parliament as Member of Parliament for Tavistock, a seat he held until 1857, when he became Member of Parliament for Middlesex.