Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond

His Grace
The Duke of Richmond
KG, PC

The Duke of Richmond, 1824.
Postmaster General
In office
11 December 1830 – 5 July 1834
Monarch William IV
Prime Minister The Earl Grey
Preceded by The Duke of Manchester
Succeeded by The Marquess Conyngham
Personal details
Born 3 August 1791 (1791-08-03)
Richmond House, Whitehall Gardens, London
Died 21 October 1860 (1860-10-22) (aged 69)
Portland Place, Marylebone, London
Nationality British
Political party Ultra-Tories
Spouse(s) Lady Caroline Paget
(1796–74)
Alma mater Trinity College, Dublin

Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond and 5th Duke of Lennox, 5th Duke of Aubigny, KG, PC (3 August 1791 – 21 October 1860), styled Earl of March until 1819, was a British soldier, politician and a prominent Conservative.

Background and education

Richmond was the son of Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, and the former Lady Charlotte Gordon. He was educated at Westminster and Trinity College, Dublin.[1]

Military career

Richmond (while Earl of March) served on Wellington's staff in the Peninsular War,[2] during which time he volunteered to join the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot's advance storming party on the fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo.[3] He formally joined the 52nd Foot in 1813, and took command of a company of 52nd soldiers at Orthez in 1814, where he was severely wounded; the musket-ball in his chest was never removed.[1][3] During the Battle of Waterloo he was ADC to the Prince of Orange, and following that man's wounding, served as ADC to Wellington.[4] Richmond was chiefly responsible for the belated institution in 1847 of the Military General Service Medal for all survivors of the campaigns between 1793 and 1814. (There had only hitherto been a Waterloo Medal.) He campaigned in Parliament and also enlisted the interest of Queen Victoria.[5] Richmond himself received the medal with eight clasps.[3]

Political career

Richmond sat as Member of Parliament for Chichester between 1812 and 1819.[2] The latter year he succeeded his father in the dukedom and entered the House of Lords. He was a vehement opponent in the House of Lords of Roman Catholic emancipation, and at a later date a leader of the opposition to Peel's free trade policy, as he was the president of the Central Agricultural Protection Society, which campaigned for preservation of the Corn Laws. Although a vigorous Conservative and Ultra-Tory for most of his career, Richmond's anger with Wellington over Catholic Emancipation led him to lead the Ultra's into joining Earl Grey's reforming Whig government in 1830 (Lang, 1999).[2] He served under Grey as Postmaster General between 1830 and 1834.[1] He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1830.[6] Richmond was also Lord Lieutenant of Sussex between 1835 and 1860 and was appointed a Knight of the Garter in 1829.[1][7]

In 1836, on inheriting the estates of his mother's brother, the fifth and last Duke of Gordon, he assumed the name of Gordon before that of Lennox.[2][8]

Family

Memorial, Chichester Cathedral

Richmond married Lady Caroline, daughter of Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey and Lady Caroline Villiers, on 10 April 1817. The couple had five sons and five daughters, including:

Richmond died at Portland Place, Marylebone, London, in October 1860, aged 69. He was succeeded in the dukedom by his eldest son, Charles. The Duchess of Richmond died in March 1874, aged 77.

Ancestry

See also

The Duke of Richmond by William Salter.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Lundy, Darryl. "thepeerage.com Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond". The Peerage.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Earls and dukes of Richmond". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  3. 1 2 3 Moorsom, W.S. Historical Record of the Fifty-Second Regiment (Oxfordshire Light Infantry), London: Richard Bentley, 1860, p. 443
  4. ↑ Georgiana, Dowager Lady De Ros. Personal Recollections of the Duke of Wellington, The Regency Library, Complimentary Issue July 2005. Originally published in Murray's Magazine 1889 Part I.
  5. ↑ Stanley C. Johnson, A Guide to Naval, Military, Air-force and Civil Medals and Ribbons, 1921, pp 57–60
  6. ↑ leighrayment.com Privy Counsellors 1679–1835
  7. ↑ leighrayment.com Peerage: Rendel-Robson
  8. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 19409. p. 1441. 12 August 1836.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
George White-Thomas
James du Pre		 Member of Parliament for Chichester
1812–1819
With: William Huskisson		 Succeeded by
William Huskisson
Lord John Lennox
Political offices
Preceded by
The Duke of Manchester		 Postmaster General
1830–1834 		Succeeded by
The Marquess Conyngham
Honorary titles
Preceded by
The Earl of Egremont		 Vice-Admiral of Sussex
1831–1860 		Vacant
Lord Lieutenant of Sussex
1835–1860 		Succeeded by
The Earl of Chichester
Peerage of England
Preceded by
Charles Lennox		 Duke of Richmond
3rd creation
1819–1860 		Succeeded by
Charles Gordon-Lennox
Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by
Charles Lennox		 Duke of Lennox
2nd creation
1819–1860 		Succeeded by
Charles Gordon-Lennox
French nobility
Preceded by
Charles Lennox		 Duke of Aubigny
1819–1860 		Succeeded by
Charles Gordon-Lennox
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