Archibald John Primrose, 4th Earl of Rosebery, (14 October 1783 – 4 March 1868), styled Viscount Primrose until 1814, was a British politician.

Early life

Primrose was born on 14 October 1783. He was the eldest son of Neil Primrose, 3rd Earl of Rosebery and, his second wife, Mary Vincent. Among his siblings were Lady Charlotte Primrose (wife of Gen. Kenneth Howard, 1st Earl of Effingham) Lady Mary Shepherd, Lady Dorothea Arabella Primrose (wife of William Hervey of Bodwell Hall), and Hon. Francis Ward Primrose (who married Percy Gore). His paternal grandparents were James Primrose, 2nd Earl of Rosebery and Mary Campbell (a daughter of the Hon. John Campbell, himself a son of the 9th Earl of Argyll, and Elizabeth Elphinstone, a daughter of the 8th Lord Elphinstone). His maternal grandparents were Sir Francis Vincent, 7th Baronet and Mary Howard (the daughter of Lt.-Gen. Hon. Thomas Howard, who served as Governor of Berwick, and Mary Moreton, the youngest daughter of William Moreton,

Bishop of Meath The Bishop of Meath is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Catholic Church it remains as a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric. History Until the ...

).Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.''

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

(Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, pp. 1277–1278, volume 3, page 3399. He was educated at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...

, gaining his MA in 1804.

Career

He was Member of Parliament for

Helston Helston () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the The Lizard, Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth, Cornwall, Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: ...

from 1805 to 1806 and

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from 1806 to 1807. He succeeded to the earldom in 1814, and was created Baron Rosebery, of Rosebery in the County of Edinburgh, in the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great B ...

, in 1828. He was appointed a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

in 1831 and a Knight of the Thistle in 1840. He was a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

Personal life

Lord Rosebery married firstly Harriett Bouverie (d. 1834), daughter of Hon. Bartholomew Bouverie (a son of the 1st Earl of Radnor) in 1808. Before their divorce in 1815, they had four children: * Archibald John Primrose, Lord Dalmeny (1809–1851), MP for Stirling Burghs who married Lady Catherine Stanhope, a daughter of

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl Stanhope Philip Henry Stanhope, 4th Earl Stanhope FRS (7 December 1781 – 2 March 1855), was an English aristocrat, chiefly remembered for his role in the Kaspar Hauser case during the 1830s. Origins He was the eldest son and heir of Charles Stanhope ...

and Hon. Catherine Smith (a daughter of the 1st Baron Carrington), in 1843. * Lady Harriet Primrose (1810–1876), who married Sir John Dunlop, 1st Baronet, son of Lt.-Gen. Sir James Dunlop, 21st of that Ilk, in 1835. * Lady Mary Anne Primrose (1812–1826), who died unmarried at age 14. * Hon. Bouverie Francis Primrose (1813–1898), who married Hon. Frederica Sophia Anson, daughter of Thomas Anson, 1st Viscount Anson and Lady Anne Margaret Coke (a daughter of the 1st Earl of Leicester), in 1838. Frederica was a younger sister of the 4th Earl's second wife Anne. Lady Roseberry caused a society scandal when she had an affair with her brother-in-law, Sir Henry St John-Mildmay, 4th Baronet (the widower of her deceased sister Charlotte). She divorced Lord Rosebery and married St John-Mildmay in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

after obtaining a special permission by the

King of Württemberg King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by f ...

. Lord Roseberry then married Anne Margaret Anson (1796–1882), the eldest daughter of Thomas Anson, 1st Viscount Anson and Lady Anne Margaret Coke (a daughter of the 1st Earl of Leicester) in 1819. They had two children: * Lady Anne Primrose (1820–1862), who married, as his third wife, the Rt. Hon. Henry Tufnell, MP for

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

and Devonport, in 1848. * Lady Louisa Primrose (1822–1870), who died unmarried. Lord Rosebery died on 4 March 1868.

Descendants

He was the grandfather of

Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death of h ...

, who succeeded him to the title of Lord Primrose and briefly served as

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

from 1894 to 1895.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosebery, Archibald Primrose, 4th Earl 1783 births 1868 deaths Nobility from Edinburgh 4 Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Knights of the Thistle Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Fellows of the Royal Society Primrose, Archibald John Primrose, Viscount Primrose, Archibald John Primrose, Viscount Scottish representative peers Primrose, Archibald John Primrose, Viscount Primrose, Archibald John Primrose, Viscount UK MPs who inherited peerages UK MPs who were granted peerages Lord-lieutenants of West Lothian Primrose, Archibald John Primrose, Viscount Primrose, Archibald John Primrose, Viscount Peers of the United Kingdom created by George IV Archibald