George Byng, 7th Viscount Torrington

Who was George Byng, 7th Viscount Torrington?

George Byng, 7th Viscount Torrington, was a British colonial administrator and courtier.

Torrington was the son of Vice-Admiral George Byng, 6th Viscount Torrington, and succeeded his father in the viscountcy in 1831 at the age of eighteen. In 1847 he was appointed Governor of Ceylon, a post he held until 1850. There he is known for his harsh suppression of the 1848 civil uprising.

He later served as a Permanent Lord-in-Waiting to the Prince Consort from 1853 to 1859 and to Queen Victoria from 1859 to 1884.

Lord Torrington died in April 1884, aged 71. He is buried in the churchyard of St. Lawrence's Church, Mereworth, Kent. He was succeeded in the viscountcy by his nephew, George.