Maurice Vivian de Touffreville Fox-Strangways, 9th Earl of Ilchester | |
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| Born | (1920-04-01)1 April 1920 Port Tawfiq,Suez,Sultanate of Egypt |
| Died | 2 July 2006(2006-07-02) (aged 86) England |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch |  Royal Air Force (1936-76) |
| Years of service | 1936-1976 |
| Rank | Group Captain |
Group CaptainMaurice Vivian de Touffreville Fox-Strangways, 9th Earl of Ilchester (1 April 1920 – 2 July 2006), styledLord Stavordale between 1964 and 1970, was a British engineer. He served in theRoyal Air Force for 40 years, from 1936 to 1976. From 1955, he concentrated mainly as anengineer involved withnuclear weapons. He succeeded his father asEarl of Ilchester in 1970, and was also an activecross-bench member of theHouse of Lords until 1999.[1]
His father wasWalter Angelo Fox-Strangways, 8th Earl of Ilchester. Fox-Strangways was born inPort Tawfiq inEgypt while his father was serving in the British foreign consular service. He was educated at the now-defunct Kingsbridge Grammar School, and joined theRoyal Air Force (RAF) as anapprentice in January 1936, aged 15.
He trained atRAF Halton and was posted toRAF Brize Norton, where he served during the early months of theBattle of Britain. According to family folklore, he was bathing when an August 1940air raid began. He ran naked into anair-raid shelter, which happened to be reserved for members of theWAAF. After this introduction, he married one of them, Diana Simpson, in November 1941.
He completed his service in theSecond World War inIndia and theFar East. By his return to England in 1946, he was aWarrant Officer. He continued his service atRAF Negombo inCeylon andRAF Kai Tak inHong Kong.
Fox-Strangeways was selected for commissioning and he attended theRoyal Air Force Technical College atRAF Henlow in 1953. By the mid-1950s he was aSquadron Leader and became involved with the development of nuclear weapons at the Directorate of Air Armament Engineering. He then moved to the headquarters ofRAF Bomber Command to work on the introduction ofThorintercontinental ballistic missiles, before working at the missile testing range atWoomera inSouth Australia. He then served at theV bomber base atRAF Finningley.
As awing commander, he served atRAF Biggin Hill, involved in recruitment of officers and aircrew. Finally, promoted togroup captain, he was the assistant director of air weapons development at theMinistry of Technology, and was involved with the UK'sPolaris ballistic missile programme.
Fox-Strangways succeeded asEarl of Ilchester on the death of his father in 1970. He retired from the RAF in 1976, having held every rank fromaircraft apprentice to group captain. In the House of Lords, he sat as acrossbencher from 1976, but waiting until 27 February 1980 to make hismaiden speech. He attended regularly until thehereditary peers were removed from the Lords in 1999. He was a member of theSelect committee on science and technology.
Outside the House of Lords, he was a director ofNottingham Building Society from 1982 to 1989. He was active in theRAF Association atBiggin Hill. He was president of theSociety of Engineers, and later a patron. He was a Fellow of theNuclear Institute (formerly the Institute of Nuclear Engineers), and its president from 1982 to 1984. He was aFreeman of theGuild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators and became aliveryman in 1987. He was a Freemason in the St George and Corner Stone Lodge.
He had no children, but was survived by his wife of over 64 years. On his death, the Earldom passed to his nephew,Robin Maurice Fox-Strangways, 10th Earl of Ilchester.
The arms of the head of the Fox-Strangways family areblazonedQuarterly of four: 1st & 4th: Sable, two lions passant paly of six argent and gules (Strangways);2nd & 3rd: Ermine, on a chevron azure three foxes' heads and necks erased or on a canton of the second a fleur-de-lys of the third (Fox).[2]
| Peerage of Great Britain | ||
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| Preceded by | Earl of Ilchester 1970–2006 | Succeeded by |
