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Charles Gordon-Lennox, 7th Duke of Richmond

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His Grace
The Duke of Richmond
KG GCVO CB
Photograph of Lord Richmond, 1907
Member of Parliament for Chichester
In office
1885–1889
Preceded byLord Henry Lennox
John Abel Smith
Succeeded byLord Walter Gordon-Lennox
Member of Parliament for West Sussex
In office
1869–1885
Preceded byHon. Henry Wyndham
Sir Walter Barttelot, Bt
Succeeded byConstituency divided
Personal details
Born
Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox

(1845-12-27)27 December 1845
Portland Place, London
Died18 January 1928(1928-01-18) (aged 82)
London
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1868; died 1879)​
Isabel Sophie Craven
​
​
(m. 1882; died 1887)​
Children7
Parent(s)Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond
Frances Harriett
EducationEton College
Military service
Branch/serviceGrenadier Guards
Royal Sussex Light Infantry Militia
Royal Sussex Regiment
RankLt-Col Commandant
Battles/warsSecond Boer War

Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, 7th Duke of Richmond and Lennox, 2nd Duke of Gordon, KG, GCVO, CB (27 December 1845 – 18 January 1928), 7th Duke of Aubigny (French peerage in the French nobility), styled Lord Settrington until 1860 and Earl of March between 1860 and 1903, was a British politician and peer.

Early life

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Styled Lord Settrington from birth, he was born at Portland Place, London on 27 December 1845. He was the eldest son of Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond and Frances Harriett Greville (1824–1887). His elder sister, Lady Caroline Gordon-Lennox, who never married, acted as chatelaine of Goodwood after their mother's death in 1887.[1] His younger siblings were Lord Algernon Gordon-Lennox (who married Blanche Maynard and was the father of Ivy Cavendish-Bentinck, Duchess of Portland), Capt. Lord Francis Gordon-Lennox (who died unmarried), Lady Florence Gordon-Lennox (who died unmarried), and Lord Walter Gordon-Lennox (who married Alice Ogilvie-Grant).[2]

His paternal grandparents were Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond and Lady Caroline Paget (eldest daughter of Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey and Lady Caroline Elizabeth Villiers, a daughter of George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey). His maternal grandparents were Algernon Greville (second son of Captain Charles Greville and Lady Charlotte Cavendish-Bentinck, eldest daughter of William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland) and the former Charlotte Cox (a daughter of Richard Henry Cox, of Hillingdon).[2]

In his youth, he visited America on a hunting trip to the Rocky Mountains, spending the winter in a log cabin. He was educated at Eton between 1859 and 1863. In 1860 he became known as the Earl of March after his father succeeded to the dukedom.[3]

Career

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Grand house in the South Downs, the main home of the Dukes, in a few square kilometres of land. Both remain in the family, see Goodwood House.
"Goodwood". Caricature by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1896

Lord March joined the Grenadier Guards two years later, although he retired in 1869 after he was elected Member of Parliament for West Sussex. He represented that constituency until it was abolished for the 1885 general election, when he was returned to the House of Commons for the Chichester constituency. He held his seat until 1889. Around this time, he was appointed as an Ecclesiastical Commissioner, a position he occupied until 1903.

He served in the part-time Royal Sussex Light Infantry Militia, being promoted to lieutenant-colonel in command of its 2nd Battalion on 28 June 1876. The regiment became the 3rd (Militia) Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment in 1881, and March was appointed its Lt-Col Commandant on 9 July 1887.[4] March and his brother, Lord Algernon Gordon-Lennox, both served in the Second Boer War, with March commanding his battalion in South Africa from its arrival in March 1901 until its return to England in June 1902 following the Peace of Vereeniging. For his service in the war, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the October 1902 South African Honours list.[5][6][7]

Lord March was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Elginshire on 27 August 1902,[8] and also served as Lord Lieutenant of Banffshire from November 1903, after his father's death.

On 27 September 1903, Gordon-Lennox succeeded his father as 7th Duke of Richmond and Lennox and 2nd Duke of Gordon (2nd creation) as well as the dukedom of Aubigny, which had been conferred on his ancestor Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth, by French King Louis XIV.[9] In 1904, King Edward VII made him a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) and a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter (KG). He was Grand Master of the Sussex branch of the Freemasons from 1902.[10] After his retirement from the militia, he was appointed honorary colonel of his battalion on 27 May 1906.[4]

Personal life

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Memorial, Chichester Cathedral

Lord Richmond was twice married. His first marriage was on 10 November 1868 to Amy Mary Ricardo (1847–1879), daughter of Percy Ricardo of Bramley Park at Guildford in Surrey, and the former Matilda Mawdesley Hensley (a daughter of John Isaac Hensley of Holborn in Middlesex). She was the sister of Colonel Horace Ricardo and of Colonel Francis Ricardo of Cookham in Berkshire. Before her death on 23 August 1879, aged 32, they had three sons and two daughters:[11]

On 3 July 1882, he married Isabel Sophie Craven, second daughter of William George Craven (a grandson of William Craven, 1st Earl of Craven) and Lady Mary Yorke (second daughter of Charles Yorke, 4th Earl of Hardwicke). They had two daughters:[11]

Lady Richmond died in November 1887, aged 24. Lord Richmond remained a widower until his death in London on 18 January 1928, aged 82.[3] He was buried in Chichester Cathedral and was succeeded in the dukedom by his eldest son, Charles.[9]

Estate

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The duke died with assets excluding family-entrusted land such as at Goodwood House where he lived (and as his forebears was a parochial and district patron). These were probated at £310,380 (equivalent to £23,621,000 in 2023).[13][14] His interests in the family-entrusted lands were proved at £1731 in 1929.[15] In 1930, the 8th Duke was forced to sell "a considerable number of pictures and books from Goodwood House and Gordon Castle, his Scottish seat near Fochabers" due to the "heavy succession duties and increasing taxation".[16]

Ancestry

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References

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  1. ^ "Lady Caroline Gordon Lennox". Gordon Chapel. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Raineval, Melville Henry Massue marquis de Ruvigny et; Raineval, Melville Henry Massue Marquis of Ruvigny and (1914). The Titled Nobility of Europe: An International Peerage, Or "Who's Who," of the Sovereigns, Princes, and Nobles of Europe. Burke's Peerage. p. 1224. ISBN 978-0-85011-028-9. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  3. ^ a b Times, the New York Times Company By Wireless To the New York (19 January 1928). "Duke of Richmond and Gordon, 82, Dies; British Nobleman and Soldier Was Also Duke of Lennox in Scotland and Aubigny, France". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  4. ^ a b Army List, various dates.
  5. ^ "Col George Jackson Hay, An Epitomized History of the Militia (The Constitutional Force), London:United Service Gazette, 1905, pp. 344–5". Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  6. ^ "The Army in South Africa - Troops returning home". The Times. No. 36790. London. 10 June 1902. p. 14.
  7. ^ "No. 27490". The London Gazette. 31 October 1902. p. 6906.
  8. ^ "No. 27469". The London Gazette. 29 August 1902. p. 5604.
  9. ^ a b c Times, Wireless to New York (8 May 1935). "Duke of Richmond Dead at Age of 64; Title, Inherited From Son of Charles II, One of Three of Rank Held by Him". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  10. ^ "Court News". The Times. No. 36828. London. 24 July 1902. p. 5.
  11. ^ a b Dod's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland, Including All the Titled Classes. 1904. p. 1064. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  12. ^ a b Morris, Susan (20 April 2020). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage 2019. eBook Partnership. p. 4129. ISBN 978-1-9997670-5-1. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  13. ^ England and Wales Calendar of Probates, 1928, page 79. National Archives. Also republished at probatesearch.service.gov.uk
  14. ^ London Probate Registry records for 1928, folio number 805
  15. ^ England and Wales Calendar of Probates, 1929, page 85. National Archives. Also republished at probatesearch.service.gov.uk
  16. ^ TIMES, Wireless to THE NEW YORK (8 January 1930). "Duke of Richmond to Sell Art Owing to Heavy Taxation Cost". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for West Sussex
1869–1885
With: Sir Walter Barttelot, Bt 		Constituency divided
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Chichester
1885–1889 		Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Elginshire
1902–1928 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Banffshire
1903–1928 		Succeeded by
Peerage of England
Preceded by Duke of Richmond
3rd creation
1903–1928 		Succeeded by
Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by Duke of Lennox
2nd creation
1903–1928 		Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Duke of Gordon
2nd creation
1903–1928 		Succeeded by
French nobility
Preceded by Duke of Aubigny
1903–1928 		Succeeded by
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