Background
Hugh William Fortescue was the eldest son of Hugh Fortescue, 4th Earl Fortescue, and his wife, the Honorary Emily (née Ormsby-Gore), daughter of William Ormsby-Gore, 2nd Baron Harlech.
Hugh William Fortescue was the eldest son of Hugh Fortescue, 4th Earl Fortescue, and his wife, the Honorary Emily (née Ormsby-Gore), daughter of William Ormsby-Gore, 2nd Baron Harlech.
He was educated at Eton College from 1901 to 1905, followed by the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
Early life and education
Military service
In 1907, Fortescue joined the Royal Scots Greys. After the First World War began in 1914, he was sent to France, where he served as a regimental officer for the Scots Greys, followed by the Royal Corps of Signals. Following the war, he went to India, where he served as an instructor at the Cavalry School at Sangor.
He then served as aide-de-camp to the Commander-in-Chief in India Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baron Rawlinson.
Fortescue returned to England in 1922, joining the Royal Devon Yeomanry. He was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in Command in 1924 and Colonel in 1930, and in 1935 he became colonel commandant of the Honourable Artillery Company.
When the Second World War began in 1939, Fortescue joined the General Staff. Political career
Fortescue succeeded his father in the earldom in 1932.
He served under Stanley Baldwin, Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill as a Lord-in-Waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) from 1936 to 1945 and under Churchill as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (chief government whip in the House of Lords) in 1945.
During the Labour stay in power from 1945 to 1951, he was Chief Opposition Whip in the House of Lords. He was again Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms under Churchill from 1951 to 1955 and under Sir Anthony Eden from 1955 to 1957. He was admitted to the Privy Council in 1952 and made a Knight of the Garter in 1951.
Personal life
Margaret Beaumont on 8 February 1917 in London.
Margaret was the daughter of Wentworth Beaumont, 1st Viscount Allendale and Alexandrina, daughter of the Fifth Marquess of Londonderry. They had four children:
Honorary
Diana Margaret Fortescue (17 May 1919 – 6 April 1920)
Hugh Peter Fortescue, Viscount Ebrington (1920–1942), killed in action at the First Battle of El Alamein, unmarried. Lady Margaret Fortescue (13 December 1923 – 25 May 2013), married Bernard van Cutsem and had issue.
Lady Elizabeth Fortescue (1 October 1926 – 17 January 2010), married William Lloyd Baxendale and had issue.
After succeeding to the earldom, he moved to the family seat in Castle Hill, Filleigh. He served as president of both the British Horse Society and Royal Agricultural Society. Death
The other historic family residence, Ebrington Manor, Gloucestershire, remains the seat of the Earls Fortescue.