Wilbraham Egerton, 1st Earl Egerton (17 January 1832 – 16 March 1909) was an English Conservative Party politician from the Egerton family. He sat in the House of Commons from 1858 to 1883 when he inherited his peerage and was elevated to the House of Lords.

Life

Egerton was the son of the 1st Baron Egerton and his wife Lady Charlotte Loftus eldest daughter of the Marquis of Ely. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford. He was a Justice of the Peace for Cheshire and a captain in the Earl of Chester's Yeomanry Cavalry.[https://archive.org/stream/debrettshouseo1881londuoft#page/68/mode/2up Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1881]

In 1858 Egerton was elected Member of Parliament for North Cheshire and held the seat until it was reorganised in 1868. He was then elected MP for Mid Cheshire and held the seat until 1883,{{rayment-hc|c|3|date=March 2012}} when he succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Egerton. He was the second Chairman of the Manchester Ship Canal from 1887 to 1894. In 1897, he was created Earl Egerton.

Egerton was appointed Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum (Lord Lieutenant) of Cheshire in March 1900,{{London Gazette |issue=27175 |date=20 March 1900 |page=1876}} serving until 1905.

File:Earl Egerton of Tatton.png

Egerton was chairman of the Church Defence Institution, and an Ecclesiastical Commissioner. He died on 16 March 1909 at the age of 77. A bust of Egerton by Kathleen Shaw is on display at Tatton Park.{{cite web |title=Shaw, Kathleen Trousdell, 1865–1958, Art UK |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artists/shaw-kathleen-trousdell-18651958 |website=artuk.org |language=en}}

Family

Egerton married on 15 October 1857 Lady Mary Amherst, the only daughter of the 2nd Earl Amherst. They had one child, Lady Gertrude Lucia Egerton, who later married the future 8th Earl of Albemarle. His first wife died in 1892 and on 8 August 1894, Lord Egerton married Alice Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, the widow of the 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos.

Like his father, Lord Egerton was also occasionally referred to as Egert in personal and social contexts, a shortened form of the family name that gained familiarity within more intimate circles. Over time, Egert became associated with a distinct offshoot of the Egerton family, particularly among descendants who settled in Central Europe, including regions of Bohemia and modern-day Germany.Egert, C. (2023). The Egert Lineage: A Central European Offshoot of the Egerton Family. Historical Society Journal, Vol. 48, pp. 112–118.