Earl of Bradford served as Lord Steward of the Household and as Master of the Horse. He was also Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire. His eldest son, the fourth Earl, represented North Shropshire in Parliament as a Conservative. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the fifth Earl. He was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the army and fought in the Boer War and in the First World War. Lord Bradford was also Private Secretary to both Prime Minister Lord Salisbury and to Prime Minister Arthur Balfour and held office as a Government Whip in the House of Lords from 1919 to 1924. The present holder
Edward Walter Hamilton appointed private secretary to William Ewart Gladstone who was Prime Minister until 1874, and also served as such 1880-85 when Gladstone was Prime Minister for the second time. Following Gladstone's defeat in 1885 he was appointed by the new Prime Minister, the Tory Lord Salisbury to a position in the Treasury where he became a pillar of the Victorian establishment during various appointments through the years. In 1902 he was appointed a Joint Permanent Secretary to the Treasury, and continued as such until his death. Hamilton was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1885, was