John Alexander Thynne, 4th Marquess of Bath (1 March 1831 – 20 April 1896), styled Viscount Weymouth between March and June 1837, was a British diplomat and a peer for almost sixty years.

Contents 1 Background and education 2 Career 3 Family and death 4 Titles 5 References

[edit] Background and education

Born in St James's, he was the son of Henry Thynne, 3rd Marquess of Bath and his wife Harriet, second daughter of Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton.^[1] He succeeded his father as Marquess in June 1837, aged only six.^[1] Lord Bath was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford. He was a devout Anglo-Catholic and a determined opponent of the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874 which sought to suppress Ritualism in the Church of England.

[edit] Career

He held the office of Envoy Extraordinary for the coronation of King Pedro V of Portugal on 27 May 1858, and Envoy Extraordinary for the coronation of the Emperor Franz Joseph I as King of Hungary on 25 July 1867.

From 1874 to 1893, he was a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery and a trustee of the British Museum in 1883. He was Chairman of Wiltshire County Council and having been a Deputy Lieutenant of Somerset from 1853, was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire in 1889, a post he held until his death in 1896.

[edit] Family and death

He married Frances Isabella Catherine Vesey, daughter of Thomas Vesey, 3rd Viscount de Vesci, on 20 August 1861. They had six children:

• Sir Thomas Henry Thynne, 5th Marquess of Bath (1862–1946)
• Lady Alice Emma Thynne (c. 1863–1942), married Sir Michael Shaw-Stewart, 8th Baronet.
• Lady Katherine Georgina Louisa Thynne (c. 1865–1933), married Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer and had issue.
• Lord John Boteville Thynne (1867–1887), died young and unmarried.
• Lady Beatrice Thynne (1867–1941), died unmarried.
• Major Lord Alexander George Thynne (1873–1918), killed in World War I, unmarried.

Lord Bath died in 1896, aged 65 in Italy and was buried at Longbridge Deverill, Wiltshire.

[edit] Titles

• John Alexander Thynne, Lord Thynne 1831–1837
• John Alexander Thynne, Viscount Weymouth 1837
• John Alexander Thynne, Marquess of Bath 1837–1896

[edit] References

Honorary titles
Preceded by The Earl of Radnor	Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire 1889 – 1896	Succeeded by The Marquess of Lansdowne
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by Henry Thynne	Marquess of Bath 1837 – 1896	Succeeded by Thomas Thynne