Beauchamp of Powycke (d. 1496). William Lygon of Madresfield Court, Worcestershire, seventh in descent from Anne, died in 1720, leaving a daughter Margaret, who married as her first husband Reginald Pyndar, and by him was mother of Reginald Pyndar, who assumed the surname of Lygon. He died in 1788, having married Susannah, daughter of William Hanmer, and was father of William Lygon, first Earl Beauchamp (1747–1816). The first earl, born on 25 July 1747, matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, on 2 May 1764. He represented the county of Worcester in parliament as a follower of Pitt from 1775 until 1806, when he was created Baron Beauchamp of Powycke, Worcestershire. On 1 Dec. 1815 he was made Viscount Elmley and Earl Beauchamp. He died suddenly at his house in St. James's Square, on 21 Oct. 1816; he had married, on 1 Nov. 1780, Catherine, daughter of James Denn, and by her he left William Beauchamp, John Reginald, and Henry Beauchamp, successively second, third, and fourth earls, with other issue.
Frederick Lygon was educated at Eton (1844–7), and matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, 15 Dec. 1848; he graduated B.A. 1852, proceeded M.A. 1856, and was created D.C.L. 22 June 1870. From 1852 till 1856 he was fellow of All Souls' College. From March 1857 to April 1863 he represented Tewkesbury in the House of Commons in the tory interest. In March 1859 he was appointed a lord of the admiralty in Lord Derby's brief ministry; he only held office for three months. In October 1863, on his elder brother, Henry, succeeding to the peerage, he was elected M.P. for West Worcestershire, and held the seat until 4 March 1866, when he became sixth Earl Beauchamp, on the death of his brother. In the Disraeli administration of 1874–80, he was lord steward of the household. On 2 March 1874 he became a privy councillor; on 13 May 1876 he was made lord-lieutenant of Worcestershire; from June 1885 until April 1886, and again from August 1886 until July 1887, he was paymaster of the forces. In parliament, both before and after his succession to the peerage, Beauchamp was a frequent speaker (cf. Hansard, Parl. Deb. Index, vols. 1864 et seq.), and was a strenuous supporter of the church of England, advocating high church views. He assisted in founding Keble College, Oxford, was a member of its council, and also helped to establish the Pusey memorial. Beauchamp was a F.S.A. and a member of the Roxburghe Club. He died on 19 Feb. 1891, and was buried at Madresfield, Worcestershire. He married, first, Lady Mary Catherine Stanhope, daughter of Earl Stanhope, and secondly, 24 Sept. 1878, Lady Emily Annora Charlotte Pierrepont, daughter of Earl Manvers. He left issue by both marriages, and his eldest son by his first wife, William, became seventh Earl Beauchamp.
Beauchamp compiled a hymnal for Madresfield Church in 1853, he published a speech delivered in favour of university tests in 1864, and in 1870 he edited the ‘Liber Regalis’ for the Roxburghe Club.
[Gent. Mag. 1816, ii. 381; Henning's Geneal. Chart.; Times, 20 and 21 Feb. 1891; Funeral Sermon by W. C. E. Newbolt; Church Times, 27 Feb. 1891; Foster's Alumni Oxon. 1714–86.]
LYHERT, otherwise LYART, LE HERT, or LE HART, WALTER (d. 1473), bishop of Norwich, is said to have been descended from a family of Norwich citizens, and this may perhaps have some truth in it, for the anniversary of one John Lyhert was certainly kept by the monks of Norwich priory in the first half of the fifteenth century, as appears by entries in the ‘Sacrist's Rolls.’ Gascoigne, however, who must have known him personally, says he was de Cornubia, and this seems the more probable, as he was for some time a fellow of Exeter College, Oxford. He appears to have attracted the notice of some powerful friends very early in life, for he was presented to the rectory of Lamarsh in Essex by Margaret Beaufort, daughter of Edward, duke of Somerset, in 1427, and next year he obtained the rectory of Tillingham, which was in the patronage of the king. During the years that followed, notwithstanding that he received several minor preferments, he seems to have resided at Oxford and to have been a somewhat leading man in the university. Resigning his fellowship at Exeter he became fellow of Oriel, and was chosen provost of that college in 1444, being then a doctor of divinity. When Thomas Brown, bishop of Norwich, died (6 Dec. 1445), Henry VI wished to promote John Stanbery, provost of Eton, to the vacant see, but William Pole, earl of Suffolk, anticipated the king, having already secured the bishopric for Lyhert, who was his chaplain, by papal provision. The temporalities were accordingly restored to the bishop-elect on 10 Jan. 1446, and he was consecrated at Lambeth on 20 Feb. In the administration of his diocese he showed much sympathy with the parish priests, who had during the previous two centuries been systematically plundered by the iniquitous appropriations of their tithes for the benefit of the religious houses; and his munificence as a builder was unbounded.
