Charles Beauclerk, 2nd Duke of St Albans, KG KB (6 April 1696 – 27 July 1751) was a British politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1718 until 1726 when he succeeded to a

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Belgi ...

Duke of St Albans Duke of St Albans is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1684 for Charles Beauclerk, 1st Earl of Burford, then 14 years old. King Charles II had accepted that Burford was his illegitimate son by Nell Gwyn, an actress, and awa ...

. He was an illegitimate grandson of King Charles II.

Origins

He was the son and heir of

Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, KG (8 May 167010 May 1726) was an illegitimate son of King Charles II of England by his mistress Nell Gwyn. Biography On 21 December 1676, a warrant was passed for "a grant to Charles Beauclerc, the K ...

by his wife Diana de Vere, daughter and sole heiress of

Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford Aubrey is traditionally a male English given name. The name is from the French derivation Aubry of the Germanic given name Alberic / Old High German given name Alberich, which consists of the elements ALF "elf" and RIK "king", from Proto-German ...

. His paternal grandparents were King

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...

and his mistress Nell Gwynne. He was styled Earl of Burford until 1726.

Career

He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

from 1706 and matriculated at

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

on 24 April 1714. From 1716 to 1717 he undertook a

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

in Italy. He was elected as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Bodmin, Cornwall, at a by-election on 26 February 1718. At the 1722 general election he was returned as an MP for

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

. He sat until 1726 when on the death of his father he succeeded to the

and vacated his seat in the House of Commons. He was appointed Master of the Hawks in 1726 which office he held until his death. He was

Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire. Since 1689, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Berkshire. Lord-Lieutenants of Berkshire *Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk 1545–22 August 1545 *E ...

from 1727 to his death. In 1730 he was appointed Constable and Governor of

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original c ...

and

Warden of Windsor Forest A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically identic ...

. He was appointed

Lord of the Bedchamber Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the royal household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Household; the term being fir ...

in 1738 and held the position until his death. He was

High Steward of Windsor High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...

Marriage and children

On 13 December 1722 he married Lucy Werden the eldest daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Werden, 2nd Baronet, with whom he had two children: *

George Beauclerk, 3rd Duke of St Albans George Beauclerk, 3rd Duke of St Albans (25 June 1730 – 1 February 1786), styled Earl of Burford until 1751, was a British peer. Early life He was the son of Charles Beauclerk, 2nd Duke of St Albans, and his wife, Lucy Werden. His paternal ...

(1730–1786); son and heir * Lady Diana Beauclerk (c. 1746–1766); married the Rev. and Hon.

Shute Barrington Shute Barrington (26 May 173425 March 1826) was an English churchman, Bishop of Llandaff in Wales, as well as Bishop of Salisbury and Bishop of Durham in England. Early life Barrington was born at Beckett Hall in Shrivenham in Berkshire (no ...

, a son of

John Shute Barrington, 1st Viscount Barrington John Barrington, 1st Viscount Barrington (1678 – 14 December 1734), known as John Shute until 1710, was an English dissenting theologian and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1715 to 1723. Background and education Barrin ...

Mistresses

With his mistress and first-cousin Renee Lennox (1709–1774), illegitimate daughter of

Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, 1st Duke of Lennox, (29 July 167227 May 1723), of Goodwood House near Chichester in Sussex, was the youngest of the seven illegitimate sons of King Charles II, and was that king's only son by his French-bo ...

(himself an illegitimate son of

), he had a daughter: * Diane Beauclerk-Lennox (1727–?); became the mistress of Baron Alessandro Mompalao Cuzkeri. With his mistress

Marie-Françoise de la Rochefoucauld Marie-Françoise or Marie Françoise is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Ghislaine Marie Françoise Dommanget (1900–1991), French actress * Marie Françoise Sophie Gay (1776–1852), French author *Marie-Françoise Audollent, ...

, daughter of Casimir-Jean Charles, Lord of Fontpastour and

Chey Chey may refer to: People Given name * Chey Chettha I (1575–1595), Cambodian king * Chey Chettha II, Cambodian king * Chey Chettha III (1639–1673), Cambodian king * Chey Chettha IV (1656–1725), Cambodian king * Chey Chettha V (1709–1755) ...

, he had a daughter: * Suzanne Beauclerk; married Jean IX Nolasque, Marquess of Noves and Count of Mimet.

Death and burial

Beauclerk died in 1751, aged 55 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and was interred in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

References

1696 births 1751 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of New College, Oxford

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

Burford, Charles Beauclerk, Earl of

102 102 may refer to: * 102 (number), the number * AD 102, a year in the 2nd century AD * 102 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 102 (ambulance service), an emergency medical transport service in Uttar Pradesh, India * 102 (Clyde) Field Squadron, Royal ...

Knights of the Garter Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath Lord-Lieutenants of Berkshire

Burford, Charles Beauclerk, Earl of Burford, Charles Beauclerk, Earl of Burford, Charles Beauclerk, Earl of Burials at Westminster Abbey {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub