Charles Augustus Stanhope, 8th Earl of Harrington (9 January 1844 – 5 February 1917), known as Viscount Petersham from 1866 to 1881, was a British peer and successful polo player.

Biography

Earl of Harrington Vanity Fair 19 September 1891

Early life

Harrington was the son of Charles Stanhope, 7th Earl of Harrington, and Elizabeth Still de Pearsall.

Polo

He learned polo in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

while in the

Cheshire Yeomanry The Cheshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment that can trace its history back to 1797 when Sir John Leicester of Tabley raised a county regiment of light cavalry in response to the growing fears of invasion from Napoleonic France. Its lineag ...

, a regiment of which he became Lieutenant-Colonel in command from 1899 to 1905 and Honorary Colonel thereafter. In 1885 he played at the back in the Gloucestershire team that won the County Cup. Harrington won the Hurlingham Champion Cup in 1892 with Sussex County and the Rugby Open Cup with

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

. His rotund figure and flowing beard were a memorable image on British polo grounds and an obvious choice for caricature in Vanity Fair. Harrington was the inventor of the papier-mâché goal posts and was President of the County Polo Association and the first President of the Polo Pony Society. He was responsible for the establishment of the Polo Pony Stud book. He played at the Staffordshire Polo Club, based at

Ingestre Hall Ingestre Hall is a Grade II* 17th-century Jacobean mansion situated at Ingestre, near Stafford, Staffordshire, England. Formerly the seat of the Earls Talbot and then the Earls of Shrewsbury, the hall is now owned by Sandwell Metropolitan Bor ...

, founded by

Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury Major Charles Henry John Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury, 20th Earl of Waterford, 5th Earl Talbot, KCVO (13 November 1860 – 7 May 1921), styled Viscount Ingestre from 1868 to 1877, was a British peer. Unusually for a wealthy noblema ...

, in 1895.Horace A. Laffaye, ''Polo in Britain: A History'', Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2012, p. 29.

Other sports

The then Viscount Petersham also took part in tilting competitions at the

Wenlock Olympian Society Annual Games The Wenlock Olympian Games, dating from 1850, are a forerunner of the modern Olympic Games. They are organised by the Wenlock Olympian Society (WOS), and are held each year at venues across Shropshire, England, centred on the little market town o ...

in 1881, when he came a joint second in flat tilting. He was invited by the games' founder,

William Penny Brookes William Penny Brookes (13 August 1809 – 11 December 1895) was an English surgeon, magistrate, botanist, and educationalist especially known for founding the Wenlock Olympian Games, inspiring the modern Olympic Games, and for his promotion of ...

, to be President of the games for 1882, by which time he had succeeded to his Earldom. In the same games he was the only President to also participate; he competed in the flat tilting, but did not take a ring, and took part in a tent-pegging demonstration. In 1883 he donated a prize to the Society for flat tilting. He was also Master of the Harrington Fox Hounds which hunted in south Nottinghamshire, and a prominent member of the

National Hunt In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: ...

Committee. The South Notts Hunt crossing the River Trent at Soke Bardolph 1890

Other offices

He was appointed a deputy lieutenant of

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

on 26 January 1917. Harrington served as Aide-de-Camp to

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

between 1907 and 1910,, thepeerage.com, September 2009 and to

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

thereafter.

Family

Lord Harrington's main family homes in 1883 were

Elvaston Castle Elvaston Castle is a stately home in Elvaston, Derbyshire, England. The Gothic Revival castle and surrounding parkland is run and owned by Derbyshire County Council as a country park known as Elvaston Castle Country Park. The country park has ...

, Derbyshire, and Gawsworth Old Hall, Cheshire. Lord Harrington married the Honourable Eva Elizabeth Carrington, daughter of

Robert Carrington, 2nd Baron Carrington Robert John Carrington, 2nd Baron Carrington, (16 January 1796 – 17 March 1868), was a politician and a baron in the Peerage of Great Britain. He was the son of Robert Smith, 1st Baron Carrington, and Anne Boldero-Barnard.Edward J. Davies, ...

, in 1869. He died in February 1917, aged 73, at Elvaston Castle, of blood poisoning caused by burns sustained at his engineer's workshop, and was buried at Elvaston parish church. He was succeeded in his titles by his younger brother

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

. Lady Harrington died in 1919.

Notes

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrington, Charles Augustus Stanhope, 8th Earl Of Deputy Lieutenants of Derbyshire 1844 births 1917 deaths Cheshire Yeomanry officers 8 English polo players Masters of foxhounds in England

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 ...