Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington

General Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington GCH PC PC (Ire) (17 March 1753  5 September 1829), styled Viscount Petersham until 1779, was a British Army officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1779 when he succeeded to the peerage as Earl of Harrington.

The Earl of Harrington
3rd Earl of Harrington
Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington
Tenure1779–1829
PredecessorWilliam Stanhope
SuccessorCharles Stanhope
Other titlesViscount Petersham
Baron Harrington
Knight Grand Cross, Royal Guelphic Order
BornCharles Stanhope
(1753-03-17)17 March 1753
Died5 September 1829(1829-09-05) (aged 76)
Brighton, East Sussex, England
NationalityBritish
ResidenceElvaston Castle
Wars and battlesAmerican Revolutionary War
OfficesColonel of the 1st Regiment of Life Guards
Commander-in-Chief, Ireland
Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle
Member of Parliament for Thetford (1774)
Member of Parliament for Westminster (1776–1779)
Member of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council,
Member of the Privy Council of Ireland
Spouse(s)
(m. 1778; died 1824)
ParentsWilliam Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Harrington
Lady Caroline FitzRoy
OccupationPeer, soldier

Early life

Coat of Arms of the Earl of Harrington

Stanhope was the son of William Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Harrington, and Lady Caroline FitzRoy, daughter of Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, and Lady Henrietta Somerset, daughter of Charles Somerset, Marquess of Worcester, and Rebecca Child. He was educated at Eton.[1]

Military career

Stanhope was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards in 1769.[1] During the Saratoga campaign of the American Revolutionary War as Viscount Petersham, he commanded the 29th Regiment of Foot's Grenadier company and was an aide-de-camp to General John Burgoyne.[1]

He was Colonel of the 85th Regiment of Foot (1778–1783), the 65th Regiment of Foot (1783–1788) and the 29th Regiment of Foot (1788–1792). He was finally Colonel of the 1st Life Guards from 1792 to his death. He was promoted full general in 1803 and made GCH in 1821. From 1805 to 1812 he was Commander-in-Chief, Ireland, and he was sent on diplomatic errands to Vienna and to Berlin.[2]

Viscount Petersham can be seen in the famous painting "The Burial of General Fraser at Saratoga" standing above Simon Fraser.

Parliamentary career

He was briefly elected to serve as Member of Parliament for Thetford in 1774 and then sat from 1776 to 1779 as one of the members for Westminster.[3]

Family

Elvaston Castle

Lord Harrington was married to Jane Fleming, daughter of Sir John Fleming, 1st Baronet. She was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Charlotte.[4] Lord and Lady Harrington had eleven children:

References

  1. Charles Stanhope at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  2.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Harrington, Earls of". Encyclopædia Britannica. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 18.
  3. "STANHOPE, Charles, Visct. Petersham (1753–1829)". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  4. "Jane Stanhope (née Fleming), Countess of Harrington (1755–1824), Lady of the bedchamber to Queen Charlotte and a society hostess". National Portrait Gallery, London.
  5. Dodsley's Annual Register, Volume 64, by Edmund Burke
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Henry Seymour Conway
John Drummond
Member of Parliament for Thetford
1774
With: Henry Seymour Conway
Succeeded by
Charles FitzRoy
Charles FitzRoy-Scudamore
Preceded by
Earl Percy
Lord Thomas Pelham-Clinton
Member of Parliament for Westminster
1776–1779
With: Lord Thomas Pelham-Clinton
Succeeded by
Lord Thomas Pelham-Clinton
Viscount Malden
Military offices
Preceded by
The Viscount Cathcart
Commander-in-Chief, Ireland
1806–1812
Succeeded by
The Earl of Hopetoun
Preceded by
The Lord Dover
Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Life Guards
1792–1829
Succeeded by
The Viscount Combermere
Preceded by
William Tryon
Colonel of the 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot
1788–1792
Succeeded by
William Cathcart, 1st Earl Cathcart
Honorary titles
Preceded by
The Earl of Cardigan
Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle
1812–1829
Succeeded by
The Marquess Conyngham
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by
William Stanhope
Earl of Harrington
1779–1829
Succeeded by
Charles Stanhope
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