Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton

Archibald William Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton, 1st Earl of Winton, KT, PC (29 September 1812  4 October 1861), styled Lord Montgomerie from 1814 to 1819, was a British Conservative politician. He was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1852 and again from 1858 to 1859.


The Earl of Eglinton

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
In office
1 March 1852  17 December 1852
MonarchQueen Victoria
Prime MinisterThe Earl of Derby
Preceded byThe Earl of Clarendon
Succeeded byThe Earl of St Germans
In office
8 March 1858  11 June 1859
MonarchQueen Victoria
Prime MinisterThe Earl of Derby
Preceded byThe Earl of Carlisle
Succeeded byThe Earl of Carlisle
Personal details
Born29 September 1812 (1812-09-29)
Palermo, Sicily
Died4 October 1861 (1861-10-05) (aged 49)
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)(1) Hon. Theresa Newcomen
(d. 1853)
(2) Lady Adela Caroline Harriett Capell
(1828–1860)
Children6
EducationEton College

Background and education

Eglinton was born in Palermo, Sicily, the son of Major-General Archibald Montgomerie, Lord Montgomerie (30 July 1773  4 January 1814), the eldest son of Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton. His mother was Lady Mary Montgomerie (died 1848), daughter of General Archibald Montgomerie, 11th Earl of Eglinton. He was educated at Eton.[1] As a pastime he enjoyed playing golf. One of his playing partners was James Ogilvie Fairlie.[2]

Political career

Eglinton was a staunch Tory. In 1846, he was a whip in the House of Lords; on 28 May 1846, he spoke against the Corn Importation Bill; in May 1848 he opposed the Jewish Disabilities Bill. [1]

In February 1852, he became Lord Lieutenant of Ireland under the Earl of Derby. He retired with the ministry in the following December. When Derby returned to office in February 1858 he was again appointed Lord-Lieutenant, and he discharged the duties of this post until June 1859.[1][3]

In this year he was created Earl of Wintoun, an earldom which had been held by his kinsfolk, the Setons, from 1600 until 1716, when George Seton, 5th Earl of Wintoun, was deprived of his honours for high treason.[3] Anstruther gives the date for this creation as 1840.[4] The Earl's kinswoman, Georgina Talbot, in celebration of the restoration of the title, gave the slightly altered name 'Winton' then in Hampshire now Winton, Dorset to a residential development in Bournemouth, which she was creating at this time.[5]

He died at Mount Melville House, near St. Andrews, on 4 October 1861, and was buried in the family vault at Kilwinning, Ayrshire, on 11 October 1861.[1]

Horse racing

Lord Eglinton's main object of interest for some years was the turf; he kept a large racing stud and won success and reputation in the sporting world.[3] His most successful horse was The Flying Dutchman which won The Derby and St Leger Stakes in 1849.[6]

The Eglinton Tournament

In 1839, Lord Eglinton's name became more widely known in connection with the Eglinton Tournament. This took place at Eglinton castle and is said to have cost him £30,000 or £40,000. Contemporary ridicule is better remembered today than it successes. It was partly spoiled by the unfavourable weather, the rain falling in torrents, but it was a real tournament, participants having attended regular training during the course of the year prior and lances being broken in the orthodox way. Prince Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III) and Lady Seymour, a granddaughter of Richard Brinsley Sheridan and the wife of Lord Seymour, afterwards 12th Duke of Somerset, took part. A list of the challengers with an account of the jousts and the mêlée will be found in the volume on the tournament written by the Reverend John Richardson, with drawings by James Henry Nixon (1843). It was also described in Disraeli's Endymion.[3]

Family

Lord Eglinton married, firstly, Theresa Howe Cockerell, née Newcomen, widow of Captain Richard Howe Cockerell RN (1798–1839, buried Park St, Calcutta). Mrs Cockerell was an illegitimate daughter (out of 8 children)[7] of Thomas Gleadowe-Newcomen, 2nd Viscount Newcomen (1776–1825) and his long-term mistress Harriet Holland, on 17 February 1841. Theresa Newcomen was born in Calcutta in 1809, and died on 16 December 1853 at Eglinton Castle. They had the following children:

According to Eglinton's entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, as cited here, this marriage was the great mistake of his life. However, his stepdaughter Anna Theresa Cockerell (1836–1912), aided by her mother's second marriage, went on to marry Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 19th Earl of Shrewsbury.

After Theresa's death in December 1853, her widower married, secondly, the Hon. Adela Caroline Harriett, daughter of Arthur Capell, 6th Earl of Essex, in 1858. They had the following children:

Lady Adela died in December 1860, aged only 32. Lord Eglinton survived her by less than a year and died in October 1861, aged 49. He was succeeded by his eldest son Archibald.

See also

Notes

  1. Barker 1894.
  2. Everard, H. S. C. (1907). "A History of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club St. Andrews from 1754-1900". Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  3. Chisholm 1911.
  4. Anstruther, Page 83
  5. 'The Lives and Times of the Mayors of Bournemouth', Bournemouth Council, 2000
  6. Mortimer, Roger; Onslow, Richard; Willett, Peter (1999). Biographical Encyclopedia of British Flat Racing. Macdonald and Jane’s. ISBN 0-354-08536-0.
  7. Genealogical entry for Newcomen

Attribution:

References

Government offices
Preceded by
The Earl of Clarendon
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
1852
Succeeded by
The Earl of St Germans
Preceded by
The Earl of Carlisle
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
18581859
Succeeded by
The Earl of Carlisle
Honorary titles
Preceded by
The Earl of Glasgow
Lord Lieutenant of Ayrshire
1842–1861
Succeeded by
The Marquess of Ailsa
Academic offices
Preceded by
Unknown
Rector of Marischal College, Aberdeen
1851–1853
Succeeded by
The Earl of Carlisle
Preceded by
Sir Archibald Alison, Bt
Rector of the University of Glasgow
1852–1854
Succeeded by
The Duke of Argyll
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Earl of Winton
18591861
Succeeded by
Archibald Montgomerie
Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by
Hugh Montgomerie
Earl of Eglinton
18191861
Succeeded by
Archibald Montgomerie
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