Charles Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer

The Right Honourable
The Earl Spencer
KG GCVO VD PC
Lord Chamberlain of the Household
In office
18 December 1905 – 14 February 1912
Monarch Edward VII
George V
Prime Minister Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
H. H. Asquith
Preceded by The Earl of Clarendon
Succeeded by The Lord Sandhurst
Personal details
Born (1857-10-30)30 October 1857
St James's, Westminster, London
Died 26 September 1922(1922-09-26) (aged 64)
St James Place, Westminster, London
Nationality British
Political party Liberal
Spouse(s) Hon. Margaret Baring
(1868–1906)
Alma mater Trinity College, Cambridge

Charles Robert Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer, KG, GCVO, VD, PC (30 October 1857 – 26 September 1922), styled The Honourable Charles Spencer until 1905 and known as The Viscount Althorp between 1905 and 1910, was a British courtier and Liberal politician from the Spencer family. An MP from 1880 to 1895 and again from 1900 to 1905, he served as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household from 1892 to 1895. Raised to peerage as Viscount Althorp in 1905, he was Lord Chamberlain from 1905 to 1912 in the Liberal administrations headed by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and H. H. Asquith. In 1910, he succeeded his half-brother in the earldom of Spencer. He was married to Margaret Baring, a member of the Baring family. They were great-grandparents of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Background and education

Spencer was born in St. James's, Westminster,[1] the son of Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer, by his second wife Adelaide Seymour, daughter of Horace Beauchamp Seymour and granddaughter of Lord Hugh Seymour. John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer, was his elder half-brother.[2] He was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge.[3]

Political career

Spencer represented Northamptonshire North in parliament from 1880 to 1885 and Northamptonshire Mid from 1885 to 1895 and again from 1900 to 1905, from his home at Dallington Hall. In 1898 he contested Hertford.[4] He was a Groom in Waiting to Queen Victoria between February and June 1886. In 1892 he was sworn of the Privy Council[5] and appointed Vice-Chamberlain of the Household under William Ewart Gladstone,[6] a post he held until 1895, the last year under the premiership of Lord Rosebery.[7] Between 1900 and 1905 he was a Liberal whip.[8]

On 19 December 1905, he was created Viscount Althorp, of Great Brington in the County of Northampton,[9] so as to allow him to become Lord Chamberlain in Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's new Liberal administration (his older brother was still Earl Spencer at that time).[10] On 13 August 1910 he inherited the earldom on the death of his childless elder brother, John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer. He remained Lord Chamberlain until 1912.[11] From 1908 to 1922 he was Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire.[12] He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order[2] in 1911 and a Knight of the Garter in 1913.[13] He was also awarded the Volunteer Reserve Decoration.

Lord Spencer held a large number of foreign decorations: the Grand Crosses of Order of the Dannebrog of Denmark, Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav, Order of the Polar Star of Sweden, Order of the Rising Sun of Japan, the White Eagle of Serbia, Order of the Red Eagle of Prussia and Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Carlos III. He was also an honorary major in[8] and later honorary colonel of the 4th Volunteer Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment.[12]

Family

Lord Spencer married the Hon. Margaret Baring (14 December 1868 – 4 July 1906), daughter of Edward Baring, 1st Baron Revelstoke, at St James's Church, Piccadilly, on 23 July 1887. They had six children:

Lord Spencer died in September 1922 at his home in St James Place, London, aged 64. He had been ill for four months after contracting a 'chill' at a public event in his home county of Northamptonshire.[16] His eldest son Albert succeeded in the earldom.

Styles of address and coat of arms

Styles of address

Coat of arms

Ancestry

References

  1. ↑ Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901 PRO RG13 Piece 74 Folio 12, p. 16.
  2. 1 2 thepeerage.com Charles Robert Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer
  3. ↑ "Spencer, the Hon. Charles Robert, Viscount Althorp (SPNR877CR)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  4. ↑ F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1885 – 1918 (Macmillan Press Ltd., London, 1974) p. 295.
  5. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 26320. p. 4881. 26 August 1892.
  6. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 26321. p. 4958. 30 August 1892.
  7. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 26643. p. 3945. 12 July 1895.
  8. 1 2 Michael Stenton and Stephen Lees, Who's Who of British Members of Parliament (Harvester Press, Sussex, 1978) vol. II, p. 334.
  9. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27868. p. 9319. 29 December 1905.
  10. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27866. p. 9171. 22 December 1905.
  11. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 28581. p. 1169. 16 February 1912.
  12. 1 2 George Edward Cokayne, H A Doubleday and Lord Howard de Walden, The Complete Peerage (St Catherine's, London, 1940) vol. XIII, p. 39.
  13. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 28736. p. 4966. 11 July 1913.
  14. ↑ "Lavinia Emily White (née Spencer), Lady Annaly". National Portrait Gallery, London.
  15. ↑ Charles Mosley (ed.), Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition (Burke's Peerage and Gentry LLC, 2003) vol. III, p. 3695.
  16. ↑ The Times (London), Wednesday, 27 September 1922, p. 10, col. D.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charles Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Sackville Stopford-Sackville
Lord Burghley		 Member of Parliament for North Northamptonshire
1880–1885
With: Lord Burghley		 Succeeded by
Edward Monckton
New constituency Member of Parliament for Mid Northamptonshire
1885–1895 		Succeeded by
Sir James Pender, Bt
Preceded by
Sir James Pender, Bt		 Member of Parliament for Mid Northamptonshire
1900–1905 		Succeeded by
Harry Manfield
Court offices
Preceded by
Lord Burghley		 Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
1892–1895 		Succeeded by
Ailwyn Fellowes
Preceded by
The Earl of Clarendon		 Lord Chamberlain
1905–1912 		Succeeded by
The Lord Sandhurst
Honorary titles
Preceded by
The Earl Spencer		 Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire
1908–1922 		Succeeded by
The Marquess of Exeter
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by
John Spencer, 5th Earl		 Earl Spencer
1910–1922 		Succeeded by
Albert Spencer, 7th Earl
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Viscount Althorp
1905–1922 		Succeeded by
Albert Spencer
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