Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond

Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, 4th Duke of Lennox, 4th Duke of Aubigny, KG, PC (9 December 1764  28 August 1819) was a Scottish peer, soldier, politician, and Governor General of British North America.


The Duke of Richmond and Lennox

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
In office
11 April 1807  23 June 1813
MonarchGeorge III
Prime MinisterThe Duke of Portland
Hon. Spencer Perceval
The Earl of Liverpool
Preceded byThe Duke of Bedford
Succeeded byThe Viscount Whitworth
Governor General of British North America
In office
1818–1819
MonarchGeorge III
Preceded bySir John Coape Sherbrooke
Succeeded byThe Earl of Dalhousie
Personal details
Born9 December 1764 (1764-12-09)
Gordon Castle, Scotland
Died28 August 1819(1819-08-28) (aged 54)
Richmond, British North America
NationalityScottish
Political partyTory
Spouse(s)Lady Charlotte Gordon
Children14, including Charles, John, William, and Sussex
ParentsLord George Lennox
Lady Louisa Kerr
Shield of arms of Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, KG, PC

Background

Richmond was born to General Lord George Lennox, the younger son of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, and Lady Louisa, daughter of William Kerr, 4th Marquess of Lothian. His aunts included the famous five Lennox sisters.

Cricket

Richmond was a keen cricketer. He was an accomplished right-hand bat and a noted wicket-keeper. An amateur, he was a founder member of the Marylebone Cricket Club. In 1786, together with the Earl of Winchilsea, Richmond offered Thomas Lord a guarantee against any losses Lord might suffer on starting a new cricket ground. This led to Lord opening his first cricket ground in 1787. Although Lord's Cricket Ground has since moved twice, Richmond and Winchilsea's guarantee provided the genesis of the best-known cricket ground in the world, a ground known as the Home of Cricket. Nearly always listed as the Hon. Colonel Charles Lennox in contemporary scorecards, Richmond had 55 recorded first-class appearances from 1784 to 1800 and played a few more games after that.

Army general

Richmond became a British Army captain at the age of 23 in 1787. On 27 May 1789, while a colonel in the Duke of York's regiment, he was involved in a duel with Frederick, Duke of York, who had expressed the opinion that "Colonel Lennox had heard words spoken to him at Daughbigny's, to which no gentleman ought to have submitted", effectively an accusation of failing to respond to an insult in the way that a gentleman should. At Wimbledon Common, Richmond fired, but his ball "grazed his Royal Highness's curl"; the Duke did not fire.[1] Richmond shortly after exchanged his company for the commission of a lieutenant-colonel in the 35th Regiment of Foot.[2] On 1 July of the same year, he was involved in another duel, with Theophilus Swift, Esq., in consequence of a pamphlet criticising Richmond's character published under Swift's name. They met in a field near the Uxbridge Road, where Swift was wounded in the body, but recovered.[3]

Charlotte, 4th Duchess of Richmond (1768–1842) (Joseph Nollekens, 1812)

Later in the year he married Lady Charlotte Gordon. In 1794 and 1795 he participated in naval engagements against the French in the West Indies and Gibraltar, but was sent home when he came into conflict with his superiors. He was also MP for Sussex, succeeding his father, from 1790 until he succeeded to the dukedom.

Duke

He became the 4th Duke of Richmond on 29 December 1806, after the death of his uncle, Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond. In April 1807 he became Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He remained in that post until 1813. He participated in the Napoleonic Wars and in 1815 he was in command of a reserve force in Brussels, which was protecting that city in case Napoleon won the Battle of Waterloo. On 15 June, the night before the Battle of Quatre Bras, his wife held a ball for his fellow officers. The glittering celebration became famous as the Duchess of Richmond's ball and was immortalised by William Makepeace Thackeray in Vanity Fair and by Lord Byron in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage.

Although the Duke observed the Battle of Quatre Bras the next day, as well as Waterloo on 18 June, he did not participate in either.

Governor General of Canada

In 1818 he was appointed Governor General of British North America.

During summer 1819, Richmond was undertaking a tour of Upper and Lower Canada, when he was bitten on the hand by a fox. The injury apparently healed and he continued on the tour, but later in his journey the initial symptoms of hydrophobia appeared. After the disease had developed rapidly, he died 28 August. Richmond's body was returned to Quebec, where he was buried at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity on 4 September.[4]

The night before his death, he slept at the "Masonic Arms", which was renamed the "Duke of Richmond Arms" to commemorate the visit.

Richmond's title was inherited by his son, Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond.

Legacy

Richmond County, Nova Scotia; Richmond, Ontario; March Township, Ontario; Huntley Township, Ontario; Torbolton Township, Ontario; Fitzroy Township, Ontario; Earl of March Secondary School; Lennoxville, Quebec; Richmond, Quebec; and Richmond County, Nova Scotia; along with Richmond Street in Toronto, Ontario, and Richmond Street in London, Ontario,[5] were named after him. According to tradition, the town of Richmond Hill, Ontario, was also named after him, as he was said to have passed through the then village during his visit in 1819.

Cairn marking the approximate location of the Duke's death.


Plaque on the 4th Duke of Richmond's cairn.

Richmond Park (football ground) in Inchicore, Dublin, still bears his name. Now the home ground of St. Patrick's Athletic Football Club, it was once a part of Richmond Barracks as Richmond was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1807–1813). It was to these barracks that over 3,000 prisoners were brought after the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin. After independence the barracks were renamed Keogh Barracks and later were redeveloped as housing for the capital's poor and again renamed Keogh Square.

Children

The Duke of Richmond, 1789.

Richmond had fourteen children:

References

Notes

  1. Millingen, pp. 131–32.
  2. Millingen, p. 133.
  3. Millingen, p. 135.
  4. Stanley, George F.G. (1983). "LENNOX, CHARLES, 4th Duke of RICHMOND and LENNOX". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. 5. Toronto: University of Toronto/Université Laval.
  5. Priddis, Harriet (1909). The Naming of London Streets: Read before the London and Middlesex Historical Society, May 16th, 1905. Revised and corrected up to date, January 9th, 1909. London, ON: London and Middlesex Historical Society. pp. 10.

Bibliography

  • Harry Altham, A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914), George Allen & Unwin, 1962.
  • Derek Birley, A Social History of English Cricket, Aurum, 1999.
  • Rowland Bowen, Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970.
  • G. B. Buckley, Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket, Cotterell, 1935.
  • Arthur Haygarth, Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826), Lillywhite, 1862.
  • J. G. Millingen, The History of Duelling, Volume 2, London: Richard Bentley, 1841.
  • John Nyren, The Cricketers of my Time (ed. Ashley Mote), Robson, 1998.
  • David Underdown, Start of Play, Allen Lane, 2000.
  • H. T. Waghorn, The Dawn of Cricket, Electric Press, 1906.
  • Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy, Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus, Penguin Group, 2012
  • Eric Arthur, Toronto, No Mean City (Third Edition, rev. and ed. Stephen A. Otto), University of Toronto Press, 1986.
  • Lord's 1787–1945 by Sir Pelham Warner ISBN 1-85145-112-9.
  • Woods, Shirley E. Jr. Ottawa: The Capital of Canada, Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 1980. ISBN 0-385-14722-8.
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Lord George Henry Lennox
Lord Pelham
Member of Parliament for Sussex
1790–1801
With: Lord Pelham
Succeeded by
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Parliament of Great Britain
Member of Parliament for Sussex
1801–1806
With: Lord Pelham 1801
John Fuller 1801–1806
Succeeded by
John Fuller
Charles William Wyndham
Government offices
Preceded by
The Duke of Bedford
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
1807–1813
Succeeded by
The Viscount Whitworth
Preceded by
Sir John Coape Sherbrooke
Governor General of British North America
1818–1819
Succeeded by
The Earl of Dalhousie
Military offices
Preceded by
Sir William Medows
Governor of Kingston-upon-Hull
1813–1814
Succeeded by
The Lord Hill
Preceded by
The Viscount Howe
Governor of Plymouth
1814–1819
Succeeded by
The Duke of Wellington
Honorary titles
Preceded by
The Earl of Ashburnham
Vice-Admiral of Sussex
1812–1819
Succeeded by
The Earl of Egremont
Preceded by
The Duke of Norfolk
Lord Lieutenant of Sussex
1816–1819
Peerage of England
Preceded by
Charles Lennox
Duke of Richmond
3rd creation
1806–1819
Succeeded by
Charles Gordon-Lennox
Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by
Charles Lennox
Duke of Lennox
2nd creation
1806–1819
Succeeded by
Charles Gordon-Lennox
French nobility
Preceded by
Charles Lennox
Duke of Aubigny
1806–1819
Succeeded by
Charles Gordon-Lennox
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