Wodehouse, John, 1st Earl of Kimberley (1826 -1902)
John Wodehouse was the eldest son of Henry Wodehouse, and Anne, only daughter of Theophilus Thornhaugh Gurdon, of Letton in Norfolk, and grandson of John, 2nd Baron Wodehouse of Kimberley in Norfolk. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took a first in Classics in 1847, having succeeded his grandfather as Baron Wodehouse of Kimberley in 1846. He married, 16 August 1847, Florence Fitzgibbon, eldest daughter and coheir of the 3rd and last Earl of Clare. Among his many appoitments, he was Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 1852 1856, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St Petersburg 1856 1858, Foreign Secretary again 1859 1861, Under Secretary for India 1864, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1864 1866, Secretary of State for the Colonies 1870 1874, Secretary of State for India 1882 1885, 1886, and 1892 1895, and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 1894 1895. He was created Earl of Kimberley on 1 June 1866, and was a Knight of the Garter. He was succeeded by his only surviving son John. A selected portion of the library at Kimberley House, Norfolk was sold at auction by Sotheby & Co by order of Margaret, Countess of Kimberley, in a mixed sale on 14 and 15 July 1947.