Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond

Background and education

Born at Richmond House, London, he was the eldest son of Charles Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond, and his wife Lady Caroline Paget, eldest daughter of Field Marshal Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey.

He was educated at Westminster School before going up to Christ Church, Oxford, and played for Oxford University, being awarded Hon. DCL in 1870.

Commissioned into the Royal Horse Guards in 1839, he served as Aide-de-Camp to the Duke of Wellington from 1842 until 1854. Born with the surname Lennox, when his father inherited the Gordon estates from his uncle, the family took the additional surname Gordon-Lennox, by Royal Licence dated 9 August 1836.

Landowner of 286,000 acres mostly in Banff, Aberdeen and Inverness, in Sussex he owned 17,000 acres. By 1883, the Duke of Richmond had an income of £80,000 a year from his English and Scottish estates.

Political career

March entered politics as MP for West Sussex in 1841, and was sworn of the Privy Council in 1859. In 1860, he succeeded his father as Duke of Richmond, taking his seat in the House of Lords. He chaired the Royal Commission on Capital Punishment, which reported in 1866, and the Royal Commission on Water Supply in 1869, which reported overall planning of water supplies for domestic use had become necessary.

Invested as a Knight of the Garter in 1867, the Duke of Richmond served as a government minister in the Conservative administrations of Lord Derby, Disraeli and the Marquess of Salisbury. Recognised for his public service, in 1876, by being created Duke of Gordon and Earl of Kinrara in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, he was Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen from 1861 until his death at Gordon Castle in 1903.

Richmond served as Lord-Lieutenant of Banffshire and Chairman of West Sussex County Council, having (as Earl of March) been President of Marylebone Cricket Club in 1842 (like his father-in-law in 1828).

Family

He married Frances Harriett Greville (1824–1887), daughter of Algernon Greville, on 28 November 1843. The Duke and Duchess had six children:

• Lady Caroline Gordon-Lennox (12 October 1844 – 2 November 1934), acted as châtelaine of Goodwood after her mother's death, and died unmarried;
• Charles Gordon-Lennox, 7th Duke of Richmond, Lennox and Gordon (1845 – 1928);
• Lord Algernon Charles Gordon-Lennox (19 September 1847 – 3 October 1921), married Blanche Maynard and had issue one daughter,
  • Ivy Gordon-Lennox (16 June 1887 – 3 March 1982), who married William Cavendish-Bentinck, 7th Duke of Portland;
• Captain Lord Francis Charles Gordon-Lennox (30 July 1849 – 1 January 1886), died unmarried;
• Lady Florence Gordon-Lennox (21 June 1851 – 21 July 1895), died unmarried;
• Lord Walter Charles Gordon-Lennox (29 July 1865 – 21 October 1922), married Alice Ogilvie-Grant, having issue.

Shield of arms of Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond, KG, PC.png|Garter stall plate of the 6th Duke of Richmond Goodwood House, West Sussex, England-2Oct2011.jpg|Goodwood House, Sussex (seat of Duke of Richmond) 49 Belgrave Square 06.JPG|49 Belgrave Square (London townhouse)

Ancestry

Bibliography

• {{Cite book |url-access=registration
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References

References

1. {{London Gazette. (12 August 1836)
2. [https://archive.org/details/greatlandownerso00bateuoft/page/380/mode/1up?q=richmond The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland]
3. {{Cite EB1911. Ronald John. McNeill
4. {{EB1911
5. [https://www.burkespeerage.com/ www.burkespeerage.com]
6. "Lady Caroline Gordon Lennox".