Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer,
KG,
CB,
PC (14 April 1798 – 27 December 1857), styled The Honourable Frederick Spencer until 1845, was a British naval commander, courtier, and
Whig politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
. He initially served in the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
and fought in the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
and the
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...
, eventually rising to the rank of Vice-Admiral. He succeeded his elder brother as Earl Spencer in 1845 and held political office as
Lord Chamberlain of the Household
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...
between 1846 and 1848 and as
Lord Steward of the Household
The Lord Steward or Lord Steward of the Household is an official of the Royal Household in England. He is always a peer. Until 1924, he was always a member of the Government. Until 1782, the office was one of considerable political importance ...
between 1854 and 1857. In 1849 he was made a
Knight 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 George ...
.
Early life
Spencer was born on 14 April 1798 at the
Admiralty Building,
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 baptised in
St Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...
. He was the fifth child born to
George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer
George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer, (1 September 1758 – 10 November 1834), styled Viscount Althorp from 1765 to 1783, was a British Whig politician. He served as Home Secretary from 1806 to 1807 in the Ministry of All the Talents. He was ...
, and
Lady Lavinia Bingham. Among his siblings was older brothers
John Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer
John Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer, (30 May 1782 – 1 October 1845), styled Viscount Althorp from 1783 to 1834, was a British statesman. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer under Lord Grey and Lord Melbourne from 1830 to 1834. Due to his ...
(whose wife died in childbirth) and
Sir Robert Cavendish Spencer
Sir Robert Cavendish Spencer (1791–1830) was an English officer of the Royal Navy. Well connected by birth, he made a naval career, which attracted the sons of the nobility and also of those from naval backgrounds, to serve under him and, despi ...
, who died unmarried at sea.
[thepeerage.com Vice-Admiral Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer](_blank)
His older sister
Lady Sarah Spencer was the wife of
William Lyttelton, 3rd Baron Lyttelton
William Henry Lyttelton, 3rd Baron Lyttelton MP (3 April 1782 – 30 April 1837) was an English Whig politician from the Lyttelton family.
Early life and education
Born on 3 April 1782, William Lyttelton was the son of William Henry Lyttelt ...
.
His paternal grandparents were
Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...
John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer
John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer () was a British peer and politician.
Early life
Spencer was born on 19 December 1734 at Althorp, his family's home in Northamptonshire. He was the only son of the Hon. John Spencer and his wife, the former ...
, and his wife
Margaret Georgiana Poyntz, daughter of the diplomat and courtier
Stephen Poyntz
Stephen Poyntz (1685–1750), of Midgham in Berkshire, was an English diplomat and courtier.
Early life
Born in London, and baptised at St Michael Cornhill in November 1685, he was the second son of William Poyntz, upholsterer, of Cornhill, and h ...
. His maternal grandparents were Irish peer
Charles Bingham, 1st Earl of Lucan
Charles Bingham, 1st Earl of Lucan (22 September 1735 – 29 March 1799), known as Sir Charles Bingham, 7th Baronet, from 1750 until 1776, was an Irish peer and politician.
Background
He was the second son of Sir John Bingham, 5th Baronet, a ...
, and his wife, the
portrait miniature
A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolor, or enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, and were popular among 16th-century eli ...
painter
Margaret Smyth.
Spencer was educated at
Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England.
Eton may also refer to:
Places
*Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England
* Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States
* Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...
from 1808 to 1811.
Career
Spencer then joined the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
as a
midshipman
A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...
on 18 September 1811, and fought in the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
in the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
between 1811 and 1815. He served for a time under his brother, Captain
the Hon. Robert Cavendish Spencer as a lieutenant aboard his ship , before receiving his own command, that of the
brig
A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...
on the
South America Station.
He was promoted to the rank of
post-captain
Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of Captain (Royal Navy), captain in the Royal Navy.
The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from:
* Officers in command of a naval vessel, who were (and still are) ...
on 26 August 1822.
[J. K. Laughton, "Spencer, Sir Robert Cavendish (1791–1830)", rev. Andrew Lambert, ]Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
, Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 200
retrieved 28 April 2009
During the
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...
he commanded at the
Battle of Navarino
The Battle of Navarino was a naval battle fought on 20 October (O. S. 8 October) 1827, during the Greek War of Independence (1821–29), in Navarino Bay (modern Pylos), on the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula, in the Ionian Sea. Allied fo ...
on 20 October 1827
and was appointed a Companion of the
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...
in November of that year. The following year he fought with the Naval Brigade in the
Morea expedition
The Morea expedition (french: link=no, Expédition de Morée) is the name given to the land intervention of the French Army in the PeloponneseMorea is the name of the Peloponnese region in Greece, which was mainly used from the medieval peri ...
. For his actions he was made a Knight of the
Order of St Louis of France and awarded the
Order of St Anne of Russia
The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (russian: Орден Святой Анны; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Hol ...
and the
Order of the Redeemer of Greece
The Order of the Redeemer ( el, Τάγμα του Σωτήρος, translit=Tágma tou Sotíros), also known as the Order of the Saviour, is an order of merit of Greece. The Order of the Redeemer is the oldest and highest decoration awarded by the ...
.
Political career
Spencer then retired from naval life and was elected
Whig 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
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
in 1831. He held this seat until 1832
and then represented
Midhurst
Midhurst () is a market town, parish and civil parish in West Sussex, England. It lies on the River Rother inland from the English Channel, and north of the county town of Chichester.
The name Midhurst was first recorded in 1186 as ''Middeh ...
between 1832 and 1834 and again between 1837 and 1841.
He was later an equerry in the household of the
Duchess of Kent
Duchess of Kent is the principal courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Kent. There have been four titles referring to Kent since the 18th century. The current duchess is Katharine, the wife of Prince Edward. He inherited the dukedom ...
(
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
's mother) from 1840 to 1845. The latter year he succeeded his elder brother in the earldom and took his seat in the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
.
When the Whigs came to power under
Lord John Russell
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known by his courtesy title Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and a ...
in 1846, Lord Spencer was appointed
Lord Chamberlain of the Household
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...
. He was sworn of the
Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
the same year. He resigned as Lord Chamberlain in 1848 but returned to the government as
Lord Steward of the Household
The Lord Steward or Lord Steward of the Household is an official of the Royal Household in England. He is always a peer. Until 1924, he was always a member of the Government. Until 1782, the office was one of considerable political importance ...
in early 1854 under
Lord Aberdeen
George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, (28 January 178414 December 1860), styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a British statesman, diplomat and landowner, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite politician and specialist in ...
, a post he held until shortly before his death in 1857, the last two years under the premiership of
Lord Palmerston
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865) was a British statesman who was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century. Palmerston dominated British foreign policy during the period ...
. He was made a
Knight 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 George ...
in 1849.
He was also promoted to
Rear-Admiral
Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarded ...
in 1852. and to
Vice-Admiral (on the reserve list) in 1857.
Personal life
Lord Spencer was twice married. He married firstly his second cousin, Georgiana Poyntz (1799–1851), daughter of
William Stephen Poyntz
William Stephen Poyntz (20 January 1770 – 8 April 1840) was an English Whig and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1800 and 1837.
Early life
Poyntz was the son of William Poyntz of Midgham (d.1809) by his ...
on 23 February 1830. They had three children:
*Lady Georgiana Frances Spencer (1832–1852), who died unmarried.
*
John Poyntz Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer
John Poyntz Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer, KG, KP, PC (27 October 1835 – 13 August 1910), known as Viscount Althorp from 1845 to 1857 (and also known as the "Red Earl" because of his distinctive long red beard), was a British Liberal Party polit ...
(1835–1910), who married
Charlotte Seymour, a granddaughter of Vice-Admiral
Lord Hugh Seymour
Vice-Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour (29 April 1759 – 11 September 1801) was a senior British Royal Navy officer of the late 18th century who was the fifth son of Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford, and became known for being both a ...
and a first cousin of his stepmother Adelaide Seymour.
*Lady Sarah Isabella Spencer (1838–1919), who died unmarried.
After Georgiana's death in 1851 he married, secondly, Adelaide Horatia Seymour (1825–1877), daughter of
Sir Horace Seymour and a great-granddaughter of
Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford
Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford, KG, PC, PC (Ire) (5 July 1718 – 14 June 1794) of Ragley Hall, Arrow, in Warwickshire, was a British courtier and politician who, briefly, was Viceroy of Ireland where he had substantial es ...
, on 9 August 1854. They had two children:
*Lady Victoria Alexandrina Spencer (1855–1906), who married
William Mansfield, 1st Viscount Sandhurst
William Mansfield, 1st Viscount Sandhurst (21 August 1855 – 2 November 1921) was a British Liberal politician and colonial governor. He was Governor of Bombay between 1895 and 1900 and Lord Chamberlain of the Household between 1912 and 1 ...
, and had issue.
*
Charles Robert Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer (1857–1922), who married the Hon. Margaret Baring, daughter of
Edward Baring, 1st Baron Revelstoke
Edward Charles Baring, 1st Baron Revelstoke (13 April 1828 – 17 July 1897), was a British banker.
Early life
A member of the Baring banking family, "Ned" Baring was born on 13 April 1828. He was the second son of Henry Baring from his second ma ...
.
Lord Spencer died at the family seat at
Althorp
Althorp (popularly pronounced ) is a Grade I listed stately home and estate in the civil parish of Althorp, in West Northamptonshire, England of about . By road it is about northwest of the county town of Northampton and about northwest of c ...
,
Brington,
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by
two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
, in December 1857, aged 59, and was succeeded in the earldom by his only son from his first marriage, John, who became a
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
politician. Spencer's son from his second marriage, Charles, who succeeded in the earldom in 1910, was also a Liberal politician. The Countess Spencer died at
Guilsborough
Guilsborough is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire in England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 882 people, reducing to 692 at the 2011 Census.
It is at the centre of an area of rural villages betwe ...
, Northamptonshire, in October 1877, aged 52.
Coat of arms
Ancestry
See also
*
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl
1798 births
1857 deaths
People educated at Eton College
04
Knights of the Garter
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Worcestershire
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Companions of the Order of the Bath
UK MPs 1831–1832
UK MPs 1832–1835
UK MPs 1837–1841
Spencer, E4
Royal Navy admirals
Whig (British political party) politicians
British military personnel of the Greek War of Independence
Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars