William Henry Forester Denison, 1st Earl of Londesborough

William Henry Forester Denison, 1st Earl of Londesborough (19 June 1834 – 19 April 1900), known as The Lord Londesborough from 1860 to 1887, was a British peer and Liberal politician. He was also one of the main founders of Scarborough FC.

Londesborough was the eldest son of Albert Denison, 1st Baron Londesborough, and Henrietta Mary Weld-Forester. Henry Conyngham, 1st Marquess Conyngham, was his paternal grandfather. He was elected to the House of Commons for Beverley in 1857, a seat he held until 1859, and then represented Scarborough from 1859 to 1860, when he succeeded his father in the barony and entered the House of Lords. In 1887 he was created Viscount Raincliffe, of Raincliffe in the North Riding of the County of York, and Earl of Londesborough, in the County of York.

Lord Londesborough married Lady Edith Frances Wilhelmina Somerset, daughter of Henry Somerset, 7th Duke of Beaufort, in 1863. He died in April 1900, aged 65, and was succeeded in his titles by his son William. His daughter Lady Edith Henrietta Sybil Denison (d. 1945) married his half-cousin Sir Gerald William Henry Codrington, 1st Bt., of Dodington Park (1850-1929). He was the son of Christopher William Codrington. Lady Londesborough died in 1915. Another daughter, Ida Emily Augusta, married Sir George Sitwell, becoming the mother of the three Sitwells, a close-knit trio of authors and social stylists of the 1920s. Lady Denison was an orchid enthusiast and she is commemorated in the scientific name of the orchid Vanda denisoniana.

Earl Londesborough was also the Worshipful Master of the Constitutional Lodge No. 294 in Beverley.

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