Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 2nd Duke of Lennox, 2nd Duke of Aubigny, (18 May 17018 August 1750) of
Goodwood House
Goodwood House is a country house and estate covering in Westhampnett, Chichester, West Sussex, England and is the seat of the Duke of Richmond. The house was built in about 1600 and is a Grade I listed building.
Description
The house and it ...
near
Chichester
Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ...
in
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...
, was a British nobleman and politician. He was the son of
Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, 1st Duke of Lennox, the youngest of the seven illegitimate sons of King
Charles II. He was the most important of the early
patrons of the game of
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
and did much to help its evolution from
village cricket to
first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...
.
Early life
Lennox was styled
Earl of March
Earl of March is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of England. The title derived from the "marches" or borderlands between England and either Wales ( Welsh Marches) or Scotland ( Scottish ...
from his birth in 1701 as heir to his father's dukedom. He also inherited his father's love of sports, particularly
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
. He had a serious accident at the age of 12 when he was thrown from a horse during a hunt, but he recovered and it did not deter him from horsemanship.
March entered into an arranged marriage in December 1719 when he was still only 18 and his bride,
Hon. Sarah Cadogan, was just 13, in order to use Sarah's large dowry to pay his considerable debts. Dowry and debt were due to a sum won by her father in play against his father. They were married at
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
.
In 1722, March became
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 o ...
for
Chichester
Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ...
as first member with Sir Thomas Miller as his second. He gave up his seat after his father died in May 1723 and he succeeded to the title of 2nd Duke of Richmond. A feature of Richmond's career was the support he received from his wife, Sarah, her interest being evident in surviving letters. Their marriage was a great success, especially by Georgian standards.
Their grandson who became the 4th Duke is known to cricket history as the
Hon. Col. Charles Lennox, a noted amateur batsman of the late 18th century who was one of
Thomas Lord's main guarantors when he established his
new ground in
Marylebone
Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary.
An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it ...
.
Cricket career
The Duke of Richmond's XI
The 2nd Duke of Richmond has been described as early cricket's greatest patron. Although he had played cricket as a boy, his real involvement began after he succeeded to the dukedom. He captained his own team and his players included some of the earliest known professionals, such as his groom
Thomas Waymark. Later, when he patronised
Slindon Cricket Club
Slindon Cricket Club was famous in the middle part of the 18th century when it claimed to have the best team in England. It was located at Slindon, a village in the Arun district of Sussex.
Cricket in the 18th century was funded by gambling i ...
, Richmond was associated with the
Newland brothers. His earliest recorded match is the one against
Sir William Gage's XI on 20 July 1725, which is mentioned in a surviving letter from Sir William to the Duke
Records have survived of four matches played by Richmond's team in the
1727 season. Two were against Gage's XI and two against an XI raised by the
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...
patron
Alan Brodrick Alan Brodrick may refer to:
* Alan Brodrick, 1st Viscount Midleton ( 1656–1728), Irish lawyer and politician
* Alan Brodrick, 2nd Viscount Midleton (1702–1747), British peer and cricket patron
* Alan Brodrick, 12th Viscount Midleton
Viscou ...
These last two games are highly significant because Richmond and Brodrick drew up
Articles of Agreement beforehand to determine the rules that must apply in their contests. These were itemised in sixteen points. It is believed that this was the first time that rules (or some part of the rules as in this case) were formally agreed upon, although rules as such definitely existed. The first full codification of the
Laws of Cricket was done in 1744. In early times, the rules would be agreed upon orally and were subject to local variations; this syndrome was also evident in
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
until
the FA was founded, especially regarding the question of handling the ball. Essentially the articles of agreement focused on residential qualifications and ensuring that there was no dissent by any player other than the two captains.
In 1728, Richmond's Sussex played twice against
Edwin Stead's
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
and lost both matches, "(Kent's) men have been too expert for those of Sussex". In 1730, Richmond's team played two matches against Gage's XI and another match against a Surrey XI backed by a Mr Andrews of Sunbury. Richmond lost to Andrews. The second of his matches against Gage, due to be played at
The Dripping Pan, near
Lewes
Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of t ...
, was "put off on account of Waymark, the Duke's man, being ill".
In 1731, Richmond was involved in one of the most controversial matches recorded in the early history of cricket. On 16 August, his Sussex team played a Middlesex XI backed by one Thomas Chambers at an unspecified venue in Chichester. Chambers' team won this match, which had a prize of 100 guineas, and a return was arranged to take place at
Richmond Green on 23 August. The return match was played for 200 guineas and it is notable as the earliest match of which the team scores are known: Richmond's XI 79, Chambers' XI 119; Richmond's XI 72, Chambers' XI 23–5 (approx.). The game ended promptly at a pre-agreed time although Chambers' XI with "four or five more to have come in" and needing "about 8 to 10 notches" clearly had the upper hand. The result caused a fracas among the crowd at Richmond Green, who were incensed by the prompt finish because the Duke of Richmond had arrived late and delayed the start of the game. The riot resulted in some of the Sussex players "having the shirts torn off their backs" and it was said "a law suit would commence about the play" In a note about another match involving Chambers' XI in September,
G. B. Buckley
George Bent Buckley (1885 – 26 April 1962) was an English surgeon and a celebrated cricket historian and an authority on the early days of the game.
Buckley was born in Saddleworth, Yorkshire, the son of Arthur and Jane Buckley, his fathe ...
has recorded that Richmond may have conceded the result to Chambers, presumably to stop the threat of litigation.
Richmond is not mentioned in cricket sources again for ten years. He may have stepped aside after the 1731 fracas but it is more likely that he terminated his Duke of Richmond's XI after he broke his leg in 1733 and could no longer play himself Instead, he channelled his enthusiasm for cricket through a team from the small village of
Slindon, which bordered on his Goodwood estate.
Slindon
The rise to fame of
Slindon Cricket Club
Slindon Cricket Club was famous in the middle part of the 18th century when it claimed to have the best team in England. It was located at Slindon, a village in the Arun district of Sussex.
Cricket in the 18th century was funded by gambling i ...
was based on the play of
Richard Newland and the patronage of Richmond. On Thursday, 9 July 1741, in a letter to her husband, the Duchess of Richmond mentions a conversation with John Newland regarding a Slindon v. East Dean match at Long Down, near Eartham, a week earlier. This is the earliest recorded mention of any of the Newland family Then, on 28 July, Richmond sent two letters to the
Duke of Newcastle
Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne was a title that was created three times, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first grant of the title was made in 1665 to William Cavendish, 1st Marquess of Newcastle ...
to tell him about a game that day which had resulted in a brawl with "hearty blows" and "broken heads". The game was at Portslade between Slindon, who won, and unnamed opponents
On Monday 7 September 1741, Slindon played
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...
at
Merrow Down, near Guildford. Richmond, in a letter to the Duke of Newcastle before the game, spoke of "poor little Slyndon against almost your whole county of Surrey". Next day he wrote again, saying that "wee (''sic'') have beat Surrey almost in one innings"
The Duchess wrote to him on Wednesday 9 September and said she "wish'd..... that the Sussex mobb (''sic'') had thrash'd the Surrey mob". She had "a grudge to those fellows ever since they mob'd you" (apparently a reference to the
Richmond Green fiasco in August 1731). She then said she wished the Duke "had won more of their moneys"
In 1744, Richmond created what is now the world's oldest known
scorecard for the match between
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...
and Slindon at the
Artillery Ground on 2 June. Slindon won by 55 runs and the original scorecard is now among Richmond's papers in the possession of the West Sussex Records Office.
In August 1745, Richmond backed a Sussex XI against Surrey in a match at Berry Hill, near
Arundel
Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England.
The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much larg ...
. It appears that Surrey won the game in view of a comment made by
Lord John Philip Sackville in a letter to Richmond dated Saturday 14 September: "I wish you had let Ridgeway play instead of your stopper behind it might have turned the match in our favour"
Single wicket
When
single wicket Single wicket cricket is a form of cricket played between two individuals, who take turns to bat and bowl against each other. The one bowling is assisted by a team of fielders, who remain as fielders at the change of innings. The winner is the one w ...
became the dominant form of cricket in the late 1740s, Richmond entered a number of teams mostly centred on
Stephen Dingate, who was in his employ at the time. For example, a number of matches were played by a "threes" team of Dingate, Joseph Rudd and Pye. Richmond often found himself opposed by his former groom
Thomas Waymark, still an outstanding player but now resident in Berkshire.
Richmond died on 8 August 1750. He had been arguably the greatest of the game's early patrons, particularly of the Slindon club and of Sussex cricket in general. His death was followed by a slump in the fortunes of Sussex cricket, which featured few matches of significance until the rise of
Brighton Cricket Club in the 1790s.
Career in the peerage
Richmond held many titles, including the
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the Georg ...
(KG),
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) a ...
(KB),
Privy Counsellor (PC) and
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemati ...
(FRS). In 1734 he succeeded to the title of
Duke of Aubigny in France on the death of his grandmother
Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth
Louise Renée de Penancoët de Kéroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth (5 September 1649 – 14 November 1734) was a mistress of Charles II of England.
Early life
Louise was the daughter of Guillaume de Penancoët, Seigneur de Kéroualle (d. 1690) ...
.
He served as
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 ...
to
King George II from 1727 and, in 1735, he was appointed
Master of the Horse.
Freemasonry
He was admitted a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemati ...
in 1724. He followed his father, the 1st Duke, into
freemasonry
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
and was a
Grand Master of the
Premier Grand Lodge of England
The organisation now known as the Premier Grand Lodge of England was founded on 24 June 1717 as the Grand Lodge of London and Westminster. Originally concerned with the practice of Freemasonry in London and Westminster, it soon became known as ...
in 1724, a few years after its formation in 1717. His father had been a
Master Mason in
Chichester
Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ...
in 1696–1697. As
Duke of Aubigny, he also assisted in introducing Freemasonry into France. In 1734, he created a
masonic lodge in the Chateau d'Aubigny near
Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...
in northeast France. One year later, with another past Grand Master,
John Theophilus Desaguliers
John Theophilus Desaguliers FRS (12 March 1683 – 29 February 1744) was a British natural philosopher, clergyman, engineer and freemason who was elected to the Royal Society in 1714 as experimental assistant to Isaac Newton. He had studied at ...
, he assisted in inaugurating a lodge in the hotel at Rue Bussy, in Paris.
Civic roles
He was elected
Mayor of Chichester
The following have been mayors of Chichester, Sussex:
*William Combe 1390–91 MP for Chichester, 1382, 1384 and 1401
* William Neel 1393–95, 1401–02 MP for Chichester, 1388, 1399 and 1415.
* William Horlebat 1398–99. MP f ...
for 1735–36.
Richmond was one of the founding Governors of London's
Foundling Hospital
The Foundling Hospital in London, England, was founded in 1739 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children." The word " hospita ...
, which received its
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...
from George II in 1739. The Foundling Hospital was a charity dedicated to saving London's
abandoned children
Child abandonment is the practice of relinquishing interests and claims over one's offspring in an illegal way, with the intent of never resuming or reasserting guardianship. The phrase is typically used to describe the physical abandonment of a ...
. Both the Duke and the Duchess took great interest in the project. The Duke attended committee meetings and both took part in the
baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
and naming of the first children accepted by the hospital in March 1741.
Military career
Richmond was a
Lieutenant-General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
in the British Army and served under the notorious
Duke of Cumberland in the Hanoverian campaign against the
Jacobite rising of 1745
The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took ...
.
Smuggling
The 1740s was a turbulent time for Sussex. There was a rise in smuggling gangs; of these probably, the most violent was the notorious
Hawkhurst Gang
The Hawkhurst Gang was a notorious criminal organisation involved in smuggling throughout southeast England from 1735 until 1749. One of the more infamous gangs of the early 18th century, they extended their influence from Hawkhurst, their base ...
.
The gang were responsible for the brutal murder of a bootmaker and a customs official.
[Waugh, p.143] Richmond decided to pursue those responsible with a vengeance. He began by petitioning the authorities so that a special
assize
The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...
could be held at Chichester. He did not trust the local Justices (in West Sussex), as they could not be relied on to convict smugglers. He, therefore, obtained authorisation for judges to be brought down from London.. The judges (
Sir Thomas Birch,
Sir Michael Foster and
Baron Clive
Earl of Powis (Powys) is a title that has been created three times. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1674 in favour of William Herbert, 3rd Baron Powis, a descendant of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (c. 1501–15 ...
) made their way under guard to Goodwood, where Richmond entertained them before the trial. His pogrom against the gang, was possibly partly because it was feared that the smugglers were assisting the Jacobites by providing intelligence to the French..
All the culprits involved in the murder of the two men were captured and convicted.
The dukes love of cricket was probably only eclipsed by his enthusiasm for wiping out smuggling in Sussex. During Richmond's two-year campaign, against the illegal trade, thirty-five smugglers were executed and another ten died in gaol before they could be hanged. However although his campaign managed to reduce the incidence of smuggling it was reported by the writer
Horace Walpole
Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whig politician.
He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twi ...
, in 1752 (after Richmond's death) that Sussex was "stiff" with smugglers.
Marriage and issue
Richmond married
Lady Sarah Cadogan (1705–1751), daughter of
William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan, on 4 December 1719 at
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
,
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. They had twelve children:
*
Lady Georgiana Carolina Lennox (27 March 172324 July 1774), married
Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, and had issue.
* Lord Charles Lennox (3 September 17241724), Earl of March.
* Lady Louisa Margaret Lennox (15 November 1725May 1728).
* Lady Anne Lennox (27 May 17261727).
* Lord Charles Lennox (9 September 1730November 1730), Earl of March.
*
Lady Emilia Mary Lennox (6 October 173127 March 1814), married first
James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, and had issue; and secondly William Ogilvie and had issue.
*
Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond (22 February 173529 December 1806).
*
Lord George Lennox
General Lord George Henry Lennox (29 November 1737 – 25 March 1805) was a British Army officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 to 1790.
Early life
He was the second son of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, and ...
(29 November 173725 March 1805), General, father of
Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond
General Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, 4th Duke of Lennox, 4th Duke of Aubigny, (9 December 176428 August 1819) was a Scottish peer, soldier, politician, and Governor-general of British North America.
Background
Richmond was born to Ge ...
.
* Lady Margaret Lennox (16 November 173910 January 1741).
*
Lady Louisa Augusta Lennox (24 November 17431821), married Thomas Connolly but had no issue.
*
Lady Sarah Lennox
Lady Sarah Lennox (14 February 1745 – August 1826) was the most notorious of the famous Lennox sisters, daughters of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond and Sarah Cadogan.
Early life
After the deaths of both her parents when she was only ...
(14 February 1745August 1826), married first
Sir Charles Bunbury, 6th Baronet, and had issue (although not by her husband, but by
Lord William Gordon); and secondly
George Napier
Colonel George Napier (11 March 1751 – 13 October 1804), styled "The Honourable", was a British Army officer, most notable for his marriage to Lady Sarah Lennox, and for his sons Charles James Napier, William Francis Patrick Napier and George ...
by whom she had issue.
* Lady Cecilia Lennox (28 February 175021 November 1769), unmarried.
[Patrick Cracroft-Brennan]
Richmond, Duke of (E, 1675)
. ''Cracroft's Peerage''. Accessed 8 March 2013.
Richmond's interment was at
Chichester Cathedral. His wife Sarah survived him by only one year.
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Richmond, Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke Of
1701 births
1750 deaths
British Army generals
British Army personnel of the Jacobite rising of 1745
March, Charles Lennox, Earl of
Mayors of Chichester
302
202
Dukes of Aubigny
Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...
English cricketers of 1701 to 1786
English cricketers
Fellows of the Royal Society
Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath
Knights of the Garter
Sussex cricketers
March, Charles Lennox, Earl of
Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain
Royal Horse Guards officers
Burials at Chichester Cathedral
Cricket patrons
Grand Masters of the Premier Grand Lodge of England
Freemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of England
18th-century philanthropists
Presidents of the Society of Antiquaries of London
People from Slindon