Byng was the second son of
George Byng, 2nd Earl of Strafford and his first wife, Agnes. From 1840 he was a
Page of Honour to
Queen Victoria and in 1847 was commissioned into the
Coldstream Guards as a
lieutenant. In 1854, he was promoted to
captain,
by purchase, then later the same year was appointed an
adjutant and in 1865 a supernumerary
major. He retired as a
lieutenant-colonel. On 15 June 1878 he took over from his elder brother as
Honorary Colonel of the
Edmonton Royal Rifle Regiment, a
militia regiment that had also been commanded by their father. In 1872, Byng was made a
Groom-in-Waiting and then an
Equerry two years later. In 1895, he was appointed a
CB and knighted
KCVO in 1897. On 28 March 1898, his elder brother
George Byng, 3rd Earl of Strafford, died and he succeeded to his peerages and estates and his seat in the House of Lords. Barely a year later, on 16 May 1899, Strafford was killed by an express train at
Potters Bar railway station. Witnesses said he appeared to step in front of the approaching engine from the bottom of the slope at the end of the platform. His body was carried fifty yards down the track. A coroner's court was later told he had the nervous condition of
catalepsy. The inquest jury – after considering several verdicts including suicide – returned a finding of
death by misadventure. As his sons predeceased him his peerages passed to his brother,
Francis. ==Family==