a firm friend of the Gaskell family of Manchester. A champion of women's rights, in 1871 he served as a vice-president on the Leeds Committee of the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science and was president of the association in 1873. He supported Meta, the daughter of novelist Elizabeth Gaskell in her work as the Representative of the Manchester Ladies' Educational Association and on The North of England Council for Promoting the Higher Education of Women. The Spectator reported upon Meta's death in 1913 that, "Lord Houghton once said that the conversation and society to be met with in the house of the Gaskells at Manchester – Plymouth Grove – were the one thing which made life in that city tolerable for people of literary tastes". Personal life Milnes was a persistent suitor of Florence Nightingale (who finally refused to marry him), and one of her staunchest supporters along with the statesman Sidney Herbert. On 30 July 1851, he married the Honourable Annabella Hungerford Crewe, daughter of John Crewe, 2nd Baron Crewe. Together they had three children: Hon. Amicia Henrietta Milnes (d. 4 Jul 1902). She married Sir Gerald FitzGerald. They had one known son, archaeologist Capt. Gerald Milnes FitzGerald (b. 5 October 1883). Hon. Florence Ellen Hungerford Milnes (d. 4 Apr 1923). She married Maj.-Gen. Arthur Henry Henniker-Major, son of John Henniker-Major, 4th Baron Henniker. They had no issue. Lord Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, 1st and last Marquess of Crewe (12 Jan 1858 – 20 Jun 1945) She died in 1874. Lord Houghton died at Vichy, France, in August 1885, aged 76, and was buried at Fryston. He was succeeded in the barony by his son, Robert, who became a prominent Liberal statesman and was created Earl of Crewe in 1895 and Marquess of Crewe in 1911. Richard and Annabella's two daughters were Amicia Henrietta and the novelist Florence Henniker. Milnes took an interest in parapsychology and was a member of the Society for Psychical Research. References Attribution External links 1809 births 1885 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society Barons Houghton Parapsychologists Patrons of literature Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs who were granted peerages Bibliophiles English male poets 19th-century English poets Members of the