JOHN FANS, 11th or 17th earl (1784-1859), only son of John, loth earl, was known as Lord Burghersh until he succeeded to the earldom in 1841. He entered the army in 1803, and in i805 took part in the Hanoverian campaign as aide-de-camp to General Sir George Don. He was assistant adjutant-general in Sicily and Egypt (1806-07), served in the Peninsular War (1808-13), was British military commissioner to the allied armies under Schwar zenberg, and marched with the allies to Paris in 1814. He was subsequently promoted major-general (1825), lieutenant-general (1838) and general (1854), although the latter half of his life was given to the diplomatic service. He was British resident at Florence (1814-30), and ambassador at Berlin from 1841 to 1851, when he was transferred to Vienna. He retired in 1855, and died
at Apthorpe House, Northamptonshire, on Oct. 16, 1859. He composed several operas, took a keen interest in the cause of music in England, and in 1822 made proposals which led to the foundation in 1823 of the Royal Academy of Music. His wife Priscilla Anne (1793-1879), daughter of William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd earl of Mornington, was a distinguished artist.