Edward Law, 5th Baron Ellenborough

Commander Edward Downes Law, 5th Baron Ellenborough (9 May 1841 – 9 December 1915), was a British Royal Navy officer and member of the House of Lords.

Commander The Right Honourable The Lord Ellenborough
Edward Downes Law, photographed by Camille Silvy c. 1861
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
as a hereditary peer 29 July 1902 – 9 December 1915
Preceded by	The 4th Baron Ellenborough
Succeeded by	The 6th Baron Ellenborough
Personal details
Born	Edward Downes Law (1841-05-09)9 May 1841
Died	9 December 1915(1915-12-09) (aged 74)
Parents	Hon. Henry Spencer Law Dorothea Anne Rochfort
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	Royal Navy
Rank	Commander

Naval career

Law was educated at Charterhouse and entered the Royal Navy in 1854 aged just 13.

Law was a naval cadet with HMS Colossus, serving in the Baltic during the Crimean War in 1855 and was awarded the Baltic Medal. He became a sub-lieutenant in 1860 and a lieutenant in 1861, and in 1867 he passed as an interpreter in French. During the American Civil War, he was serving on the North America and West Indies Station. He transferred to the frigate HMS Highflyer, and was with her in China during the Second Opium War (1859–1861) and was awarded the Second China War Medal. In 1873, he was lieutenant commanding HMS Coquette, and saw service during the Third Anglo-Ashanti War and was awarded the Ashanti Medal. He retired as commander later in 1873.^[1][2]

Baron Ellenborough

Law was the eldest son of Henry Spencer Law and succeeded to the peerage on the death of his cousin, Charles Towry-Law, 4th Baron Ellenborough, in June 1902.^[2] He took his seat in the House of Lords on 29 July 1902.^[3]

Family

Lord Ellenborough married in 1906 Hermione Octavia Croghan Schenley, daughter of E. W. H. Schenley, of Pittsburgh, and ward of Andrew Carnegie,^[4] and they lived at Windlesham Court in Surrey. He died in 1915 and was succeeded by his brother Cecil, who became the 6th Baron Ellenborough.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Edward Law, 5th Baron Ellenborough

8. Rt Rev. Edmund Law 4. Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough 9. Mary Christian (1721/1722 – 1762) 2. The Hon. Henry Spencer Law (1802–1885) 10. Capt. George Towry 5. Ann Towry (died 1843) 1. Edward Law, 5th Baron Ellenborough 12. John Rochfort (1735–1812) 6. Col. John Rochfort (died 1844) 13. Dorothea Burgh 3. Dorothea Rochfort (died 1871) 14. Thomas Burgh (died 1810) 7. Mary Burgh (died 1866) 15. Anne Aigion (died 1831)

References

1. Kidd, Charles, (editor). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (2015 edition), p. 419.
2. "Obituary - Lord Ellenborough". The Times. No. 36806. London. 28 June 1902. p. 9.
3. "Parliament - House of Lords". The Times. No. 36833. London. 30 July 1902. p. 6.
4. Montgomery, Maureen E. (2013). 'Gilded Prostitution': Status, Money and Transatlantic Marriages, 1870-1914. Routledge Library Editions: Women's History. p. 250. ISBN 9781136214950. Retrieved 1 August 2021.

Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Charles Towry-Law	Baron Ellenborough 1902–1915	Succeeded by Cecil Law