Charles Sackville, 2nd Duke of Dorset PC (6 February 17115 January 1769), styled as Lord Buckhurst from 1711 to 1720 and the Earl of Middlesex from 1720 to 1765, 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 Bicameralism, 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 ...

between 1734 and 1765. He then succeeded to the peerage as

Duke of Dorset Duke of Dorset was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1720 for the politician Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, Lionel Sackville, 7th Earl of Dorset. History The Sackville family descended from Richard Sackville (es ...

. He was also an opera impresario and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er.

Early life

Sackville was the eldest son of Lionel Sackville, 7th Earl of Dorset (created

in 1720), and his wife, Elizabeth Colyear, daughter of Gen. Walter Colyear. He was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

from 1720 and matriculated at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

in 1728, receiving an MA in 1730. He then embarked on a grand tour to Italy, which lasted from 1731 to 1733. While in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

in 1733, he established the first Freemasonic lodge in all of Italy.

Politics

Sackville was bitterly opposed, politically, to his father, and ventured to oppose his candidates in the boroughs he controlled. He became an ally of

Frederick, Prince of Wales Frederick, Prince of Wales (Frederick Louis, German: ''Friedrich Ludwig''; 31 January 1707 – 31 March 1751) was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen C ...

. In the 1734 election, he was defeated at

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, but was returned as member of parliament for

East Grinstead East Grinstead () is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the northeast corner of the county, bord ...

. He was appointed Captain of

Walmer Castle Walmer Castle is an artillery fort originally constructed by Henry VIII in Walmer, Kent, between 1539 and 1540. It formed part of the King's Device Forts, Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire, and ...

in September. He continued to sit for East Grinstead until 26 May 1741, when he accepted the office of High Steward of the Honour of

Otford Otford is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It lies on the River Darent, north of Sevenoaks. Otford's four churches are the Anglican Church of St Bartholomew in the village centre, the Otford Methodist C ...

. He was returned for

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

in a by-election in 1742, and for

Old Sarum Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest recor ...

at the 1747 election. He served as a Lord of the Treasury from 1743 until 1747, and was appointed a deputy lieutenant of

on 20 October 1745. He was appointed

Master of the Horse Master of the Horse is an official position in several European nations. It was more common when most countries in Europe were monarchies, and is of varying prominence today. (ancient Rome) The original Master of the Horse () in the Roman Rep ...

to the Prince of Wales in 1747, and served until Frederick's death in 1751. Middlesex married Hon. Grace Boyle, daughter and heir of

Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount Shannon Field Marshal Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount Shannon, PC (1675 – 20 December 1740) was a British army officer and politician. After serving as a junior officer at the Battle of the Boyne during the Williamite War in Ireland and at the Battle of L ...

, on 30 October 1744, but they had no children. During the 1754 election, he unsuccessfully contested

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, and held no seat until the next election. He returned to the

as Member for East Grinstead from 1761 until 1765. In that year, he succeeded his father as

, and also as Lord Lieutenant of Kent, and was made a Privy Councillor in 1766. However, he did not long enjoy the ducal honours. Upon his death in 1769 in London, he was succeeded by his nephew, John Sackville.

Opera

After a second grand tour to continental Europe in 1737 and 1738, he returned to England in January 1739 and staged an opera, Angelico e Medoro, with music by

Giovanni Battista Pescetti Giovanni Battista Pescetti (c. 170420 March 1766) was an organist, harpsichordist, and composer known primarily for his operas and keyboard sonatas. Musicologist and University of California, Santa Barbara professor John E. Gillespie wrote that Pe ...

from a libretto by

Metastasio Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of ''opera seria'' libretti. Early life Met ...

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

. This was intended as a showcase for the (apparently limited) talents of the

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

Lucia Panichi, ''La Muscovita'', who was Middlesex's mistress from about 1739 to about 1742. He also had the ambition to revive full-scale Italian opera in London, which Johann Jakob Heidegger had recently abandoned at the King's Theatre, Haymarket because of its expense. Middlesex staged a season in 1739–40 at the Little Theatre, Haymarket, but he was unable to raise enough subscriptions to continue the next year. For the 1741–42 season, he entered into partnership with seven other noblemen (the second Opera of the Nobility) and they were able to continue for three years at the King's Theatre, Haymarket.

Cricket

Like other members of his family, particularly his brother and his nephew, Sackville had an interest in

but did not achieve their level of involvement, probably because of his political activity. He is known to have played for

during the 1734 English cricket season in the match against

which is the earliest known game at Sevenoaks Vine.McCann, p.15. His brother

Lord John Sackville Lord John Philip Sackville (22 June 1713 – 3 December 1765) was the second son of Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset. He was a keen cricketer who was closely connected with the sport in Kent. He was member of parliament (MP) for Tamworth ...

played alongside him for Kent, who won the game; and Sir William Gage played for Sussex.

References

Bibliography

* Timothy J McCann, ''Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century'', Sussex Record Society, 2004 *

External links

*
Charles Sackville
at th
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dorset, Charles Sackville, 2nd Duke Of 1711 births 1769 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Deputy lieutenants of Sussex 102 Middlesex, Charles Sackville, Earl of Middlesex, Charles Sackville, Earl of Middlesex, Charles Sackville, Earl of Middlesex, Charles Sackville, Earl of Lord-lieutenants of Kent Middlesex, Charles Sackville, Earl of Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain People educated at Westminster School, London

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 ''* ...

English cricketers of 1701 to 1786 Cricket patrons Earls of Dorset Freemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of England Freemasonry in Italy 18th-century British philanthropists