William Proby, 5th Earl of Carysfort

William Proby, 5th Earl of Carysfort KP (18 January 1836 – 4 September 1909), known as William Proby until 1872, was a British peer.

Early life and education Carysfort was the fourth son and youngest child of Admiral Granville Proby, 3rd Earl of Carysfort, and his wife Isabella (née Howard), who died only four days after his birth. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating with an MA in 1859.

Military career He was commissioned as a Captain in the part-time Wicklow Militia on 16 May 1861, retiring on 26 March 1872.

Public offices The Honourable William Proby served as High Sheriff of Wicklow in 1866 and as Lord-Lieutenant of County Wicklow from 1890 to 1909. In 1872, he succeeded his elder brother Graville Leveson Proby in the earldom upon his death, entering the House of Lords. He was made a Knight of the Order of St Patrick in 1874.

Personal life and death Lord Carysfort married Charlotte Mary, daughter of Reverend Robert Boothby Heathcote, in 1860. The marriage was childless. He had a sizeable arts collection, mostly held at the Proby estate in Huntingdonshire, Elton Hall.

Lord Carysfort died in September 1909, aged 73, when all his titles became extinct. His estate was inherited by his nephew Douglas Proby, son of his sister Emma Elizabeth and Lord Claud Hamilton, who had changed his surname to Proby by royal license in 1904. Lord Carysford was survived by his wife, who died on 13 January 1918.

An English Merrymaking a Hundred Years Ago by William Powell Frith. One of the many paintings purchased by the 5th Earl of Caryfort.