Henry Chetwynd-Talbot, 18th Earl of Shrewsbury

Admiral Henry John Chetwynd-Talbot, 18th Earl of Shrewsbury, 3rd Earl Talbot, 18th Earl of Waterford, CB, PC (8 November 1803 – 4 June 1868), styled Viscount Ingestre between 1826 and 1849 and known as The Earl Talbot between 1849 and 1858, was a British naval commander and Conservative politician.

Background
Shrewsbury was the second but eldest surviving son of Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 2nd Earl Talbot and his wife Frances Thomasine, daughter of Charles Lambert. He was styled Viscount Ingestre from the death of his elder brother in 1826 and succeeded his father as 3rd Earl Talbot in 1849. In 1860, following a long and expensive legal case in the House of Lords he succeeded, against the claims of three other parties to the titles and estates (including Alton Towers) of a distant relative and became 18th Earl of Shrewsbury and 18th Earl of Waterford.

Naval career
Shrewsbury entered the Royal Navy in 1817 and was promoted to Captain for his actions at the Battle of Navarino in 1827, where he commanded the H. M. S. Philomel. He became a Rear-Admiral in 1854 and a Vice-Admiral and Admiral in 1865.

As Viscount Ingestre, in the House of Commons, he was a major supporter of the charlatan naval inventor, Samuel Alfred Warner.

Political career
Shrewsbury was returned to Parliament as one of two representatives for Hertford in 1830. In May of the following year he was elected for Armagh City, a seat he only held until August 1831, and then represented Dublin City until 1832. In 1832 he was once again returned for Hertford. However, the election was declared void on petition in 1833. He returned to the House of Commons as one of two representative for Staffordshire South in 1837, a seat he held until he succeeded his father in the earldom in 1849. After entering the House of Lords he served under the Earl of Derby as a Lord-in-Waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) in 1852 and as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms from 1858 to 1859. In 1858 he was sworn of the Privy Council.

Family
Lord Shrewsbury married Lady Sarah Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Beresford, 2nd Marquess of Waterford and his wife Sarah Carpenter, in 1828. They had four sons and four daughters. His second son the Hon. Walter Cecil Carpenter (who assumed this surname by Royal license in lieu of his patronymic) became an Admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament while his third son the Hon. Sir Reginald Talbot became a prominent soldier, politician and colonial governor. Lord Shrewsbury died in June 1868, aged 64, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son Charles, Viscount Ingrestre. The Countess of Shrewsbury survived her husband by sixteen years and died in October 1884, aged 76.