Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield

Who was Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield?

Henry North Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, styled Viscount Pevensey until 1876, was an English Conservative politician and patron of cricket.

Born in Marylebone, London, Sheffield was the second but eldest surviving son of George Holroyd, 2nd Earl of Sheffield, and his wife Lady Harriet, daughter of Henry Lascelles, 2nd Earl of Harewood. He sat as Conservative Member of Parliament for Sussex East from 1857 to 1865. In 1876 he succeeded his father in the earldom. Sheffield is best remembered as a patron of cricket. In 1891, he presented a donation of £150 to the New South Wales Cricket Association which was used to purchase a plate and establish the competition known as the Sheffield Shield, the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia.

Lord Sheffield died in Beaulieu, France, in April 1909, aged 77. He was unmarried and on his death the earldom became extinct. However, he was succeeded in his junior title of Baron Sheffield, which had a special remainder that allowed it to be passed through female lines, by his first cousin once removed, Edward Stanley, 4th Baron Stanley of Alderley.