William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp (20 February 1872 – 14 November 1938), styled Viscount Elmley until 1891, was a British Liberal politician.

[citation needed] He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, University of Oxford, where he showed an interest in evangelism, joining the Christian Social Union.

[1][2] Beauchamp's mentors included the Eton master Henry Luxmoore, who encouraged his pupils to "strive after what was best in all things", and Anglican minister the Rev.

Though he was good at the job and enjoyed the company of local artists and writers, he was unpopular in the colony for a series of gaffes and misunderstandings, most notably over his reference to the "birthstain" of Australia's convict origins.

[1] When the Liberals came to power under Henry Campbell-Bannerman in December 1905, Beauchamp was appointed Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms[5] and was sworn of the Privy Council in January 1906.

He entered the cabinet as Lord President of the Council in June 1910,[8] a post that he held until November of the same year, when he was appointed First Commissioner of Works.

[citation needed] While serving in Parliament, Beauchamp also voiced his support for a range of progressive measures such as workmen's compensation,[12] an expansion in rural housing provision, an agricultural minimum wage,[13] improved safety standards[14] and reduced working hours for miners.

[2] In 1930, while on a trip to Australia, it became common knowledge in London society that one of the men escorting him, Robert Bernays, a member of the Liberal Party, was a lover.

[2] After sufficient evidence had been gathered by the Duke, Beauchamp was made an offer to separate from his wife Lettice, retire on a pretence and then leave the country.

Beauchamp accepted and left the country immediately in June 1931, living a nomadic life in the global homosexual hotspots of the time.

[28] In his 1977 book, Homosexuals in History, historian A. L. Rowse suggests that Beauchamp's failed appointment as Governor of New South Wales was the inspiration for Hilaire Belloc's satirical children's poem, "Lord Lundy", which has in its final lines a command to Lord Lundy from his aged grandfather: "But as it is!...My language fails!