Thomas George Baring was born on 22 Jan 1826. He was the son of Francis Baring, 1st Baron Northbrook of Stratton Park, and Jane, daughter of Sir George Grey Bt. He graduated with honours from Christchurch, Oxford in 1846. He entered politics as private secretary to Henry Labouchere, then to his maternal grandparent Sir George Grey. He served on the committee of the British Relief Association in 1847. This organisation provided aid for the poor of Ireland and Scotland. In 1857 he was MP for Penryn and Falmouth, until 1866 when he inherited the baronetcy from his father. He held various under-secretary posts under Palmerston and Lord Russell. Under Gladstone he was Under-Secretary for War in 1868.
In 1872 he was appointed Viceroy of India. He was a benevolent ruler, organising famine relief and instituting reform to upgrade the quality of government in the British Raj. His efforts reduced starvation and social unrest. In 1875 he worked hard to reach agreement with Sher Ali Khan in Kabul but his work was undermined by the Duke of Argyll, Secretary of State for India and the result was the Second Afghan War of 1878-80. Northbrook resigned as Viceroy in 1876 and was created Viscount Baring, and 1st Earl of Northbrook in the County of Southampton. From 1880 he was First Lord of the Admiralty under Gladstone, at a time when the Navy was in need of enlargement. He was sent to Egypt as special commissioner to report on finances and the advisability of keeping troops there. His political career effectively came to an end when he opposed Gladstone’s Home Rule policy.
He was an officer in the Hampshire Yeomanry, reaching the rank of major on 10 Mar 1872. On 26 Jan 1889 he was appointed Honorary Colonel, a post he held until his death on 15 Nov 1904. He was also Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire from 1892. He was married in 1848 to Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Charles Sturt and sister of the notorious East End landlord, Baron Alington. They had two sons and a daughter. Elizabeth died in 1867 and the Earl remained a widower.
