Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 8th Earl Of Shaftesbury

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 8th Earl of Shaftesbury Bt DL, was born on 27 June 1831 and died on 13 April 1886. He was a British peer and the son of The 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. Between 1851 and 1885, he was styled as Lord Ashley.

His military career began with a commission as a cornet in the Dorsetshire Yeomanry on 26 July 1856. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 21 January 1857 and was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Dorset on 27 January 1857. He resigned his Yeomanry commission in April 1859. He also served in the Royal Rifle Militia, being commissioned as a lieutenant in the Antrim Royal Rifle Regiment of Militia on 7 June 1858.

Politically, he served as Member of Parliament for Kingston upon Hull from 1857 to 1859 and for Cricklade from 1859 to 1865. He was known to be a patron and member of the Society for the Suppression of the Opium Trade.

In the volunteer military units, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 2nd (South Middlesex) Rifle Volunteer Corps on 16 March 1860. Later in 1860, he became a captain in the 28th (London Irish) Middlesex RVC on 17 September after resigning from the South Middlesex unit. On 7 September 1860, he was promoted to captain in the Antrim Militia, a post he resigned in early 1862. He resigned his commission in the London Irish Rifles on 1 April 1863.

He was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel of the Dorset Militia on 6 February 1862, a position he held until 1 June 1872. Additionally, he was appointed Lieutenant-commanding of the London Corps of Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers (RNAV) on 12 May 1875, and on 7 June 1880, he became the honorary commander of the London Brigade of RNAV.

Regarding his family, Lord Shaftesbury married Lady Harriet Augusta Anna Seymourina Chichester on 22 August 1857. She was the only daughter and surviving child of the 3rd Marquess of Donegall. They had six children:

- Lady Margaret Ashley-Cooper (1858–1931), who married Captain Theophilus Levett.

- Lady Evelyn Ashley-Cooper (1865–1931), who married first the 2nd Baron Magheramorne and later Captain Hugo Baring.

- Lady Mildred Ashley-Cooper (1867–1958), who married George Allsopp.

- Lady Violet Ashley-Cooper (1868–1938), who married the 12th Earl of Mar.

- Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 9th Earl of Shaftesbury (1869–1961), who married Lady Constance Grosvenor, daughter of Earl Grosvenor.

- Lady Ethel Maud Ashley-Cooper (1870–1945), who married Sir George Warrender. She was known as Lady Maud Warrender, a singer, patron of music, and friend of Sir Edward Elgar.

In his lifetime, he was considered an irresponsible heir apparent due to financial debts accumulated through his spending habits and his marriage.

He became the 8th Earl of Shaftesbury after his father's death. His death resulted from suicide; he shot himself with a revolver while in a cab in Regent Street, London, on 13 April 1886, approximately six months after inheriting the title.