Byng was the eldest son of John Byng (later 1st Earl of Strafford) and his first wife, Mary (née Mackenzie). Byng"s political career began in 1830 when he was elected as Member of Parliament for Milborne Portuguese, a seat he briefly held before taking the post of Comptroller of the Household to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland (his father-in-law, Lord Anglesey), less than a year later.
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
In 1822, after graduating from the Royal Military College, he joined the 29th Regiment of Foot as an ensign by purchase. In 1825, he transferred to the 85th Regiment of Foot as a Lieutenant and was promoted to Captain in 1826. When his former co-Member of Parliament, William Sturges-Bourne, took the Chiltern Hundreds a few weeks after, Byng returned to his former seat and held it until the Great Reform Bill abolished the constituency a year later.
From 1834 he was Member of Parliament for the new constituency of Chatham, a seat he held until 1835 and again from 1837 to 1852.
He served under Lord Melbourne as a Lord of the Treasury between June and November 1834. Between 1836 and 1837 he represented Poole in parliament.
He again served under Lord Melbourne as Comptroller of the Household between 1835 and 1841 and as Treasurer of the Household between June and August 1841 and was sworn of the Privy Council in 1835. When Lord John Russell became Prime Minister in 1846, Byng was appointed Joint Secretary to the Board of Control, a post he retained until 1847.
After losing his parliamentary seat in 1852, Byng was summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration in his father"s barony of Strafford a year later and inherited his father"s earldom in 1860.
Lord Strafford married firstly Lady Agnes, daughter of Field Marshal Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, on 7 March 1829. They had six children:
George Henry Charles, styled Viscount Enfield, later 3rd Earl of Strafford (22 February 1830-1828 March 1898)
Honorary Henry William John, later 4th Earl of Strafford (21 August 1831-1816 May 1899)
Lady Agnes Mary Georgiana (29 October 1833-1837 April 1878), married Hedworth Jolliffe, 2nd Baron Hylton.
Honorary
Francis Edmund Cecil, later 5th Earl of Stafford (1835–1918)
Lady Mary Caroline Charlotte (1838–1933), married Richard Arkwright. Lady Victoria Alexandrina Anna Maria (11 March 1842-1899), married Arthur Fuller. After Lady Agnes"s death in October 1845, Lord Strafford married secondly the Honorary
Harriett, daughter of Charles Cavendish, 1st Baron Chesham, in 1848.
They had seven children:
Honorary Charles Cavendish George (1849–1918).
Honorary Alfred John George (1851–1887). Lady Susan Catherine Harriet (19 March 1854-1936), married Thomas Trueman.
Lady Elizabeth Henrietta Alice (31 December 1855-1920).
Honorary Lionel Francis George (1858–1915). Lady Margaret Florence Lucy ( 6 November 1860-1945), married Honorary
John Richard Boscawen.
Honorary Julian Hedworth George, later 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy (1862–1935). The Countess of Strafford died in June 1892.
Royal Society; 9th United Kingdom Parliament. 10th United Kingdom Parliament. 11th United Kingdom Parliament.
12th United Kingdom Parliament.
13th United Kingdom Parliament. 14th United Kingdom Parliament.
15th United Kingdom Parliament.
