Richard Fellowes Benyon

Who was Richard Fellowes Benyon?

Richard Fellowes Benyon, born Richard Fellowes, was a British Conservative politician and civil servant.

Richard was born at Haveringland Hall in Norfolk, the third son of William Henry Fellowes of Ramsey Abbey in Huntingdonshire and his wife, Emma, sister of Richard Benyon De Beauvoir of Englefield House in Berkshire.

He inherited this latter property and its associated estates upon his uncle's death in 1854 and changed his name to Benyon.

Educated at Charterhouse and St. John's College, Cambridge, he was a member of Boodle's, Carlton and Conservative London clubs.

In 1857 he was appointed High Sheriff of Berkshire, and was the Chairman of the County's Quarter Sessions in 1864. In 1860 he was elected the Member of Parliament for Berkshire, a position he held until his resignation in 1876. He was a patron of the anti-Mendicity Society, the National Society for School Furniture and the Society for the Augmentation of Small Livings.

By his wife Elizabeth Mary Clutterbuck he had three daughters, and upon his death in 1897, his estates were inherited by his nephew, James Herbert Benyon.