He succeeded his second cousin John as Earl of Shrewsbury and Waterford, and Lord High Steward of Ireland in 1852.
[1] He was appointed to the ceremonial post of Vice-Admiral of Cheshire on 9 March 1854[2] and as a deputy lieutenant of Staffordshire on 9 June 1854.
Shrewsbury died two years later, on 10 August 1856, and his peerages passed to the next male-line relative, the 3rd Earl Talbot, in the only major leap of the title.
They shared the same ancestor nine generations back: John Talbot (died 1549).
[1] The Earl funded the building of Shrewsbury Cathedral in 1853-1856 but he died unmarried aged 23, three months prior its completion.