William Fox-Strangways, 4th Earl of Ilchester

[1] He served as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs under Lord Melbourne from 1835 to 1840 and was Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the German Confederation from 1840 to 1849.

[2] In 1835 he was appointed Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in the Whig administration of Lord Melbourne, a post he held until 1840 (however, he was not a Member of Parliament during this time).

The latter year he was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the German Confederation,[3] which he remained until 1849.

When he was attaché at the British Embassy in St Petersburg Fox-Strangways wrote  'Geological sketch of the environs of Petersburg' published in the Transactions of the Geological Society of London in 1821 (read on 16 April 1819), which includes a coloured geological map of the St Petersburg region, distinguishing four rock types, as well as some cross-sections and scenic views along the river banks.

[8] The arms of the head of the Fox-Strangways family are blazoned Quarterly 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).