George Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland
KG,
PC (9 January 175819 July 1833), known as Viscount Trentham from 1758 to 1786, as Earl Gower from 1786 to 1803 and as the Marquess of Stafford from 1803 to 1833, was an English politician, diplomat, landowner and patron of the arts from the
Leveson-Gower family
Leveson-Gower ( ), also Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, is the name of a powerful British noble family. Over time, several members of the Leveson-Gower family were made knights, baronets and peers. Hereditary titles held by the family include the duke ...
. He was the wealthiest man in Britain during the latter part of his life.
He remains a controversial figure for his role in the
Highland Clearances
The Highland Clearances ( gd, Fuadaichean nan Gàidheal , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860.
The first phase result ...
.
Background
Sutherland was the eldest son of the
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, KG PC (4 August 172126 October 1803), known as Viscount Trentham from 1746 to 1754 and as The Earl Gower from 1754 to 1786, was a British politician from the Leveson-Gower family.
Background ...
, by his second wife, Lady Louisa, daughter of
Scroop Egerton, 1st Duke of Bridgwater.
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville, (12 October 1773 – 8 January 1846), styled Lord Granville Leveson-Gower from 1786 to 1815 and The Viscount Granville from 1815 to 1833, was a British Whig statesman and diplomat from the Leveson-G ...
, was his half-brother. He was educated at
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
and at
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniq ...
, where he graduated MA in 1777.
Earlier political career
Sutherland sat as Member of Parliament for
Newcastle-under-Lyme
Newcastle-under-Lyme ( RP: , ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. The 2011 census population of the town was 75,082, whilst the wider borough had a population of 1 ...
from 1779 to 1784 and for
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands C ...
from 1787 to 1799. The latter year he was summoned to the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...
through a
writ of acceleration in his father's junior title of Baron Gower.
Ambassador during French Revolution
Between 1790 and 1792 he was
Ambassador to France. Gower was appointed ambassador in Paris in June 1790 at the age of 32. Due to
Louis XVI
Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...
being under house arrest in the
Tuileries Palace
The Tuileries Palace (french: Palais des Tuileries, ) was a royal and imperial palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine, directly in front of the Louvre. It was the usual Parisian residence of most French monarchs, f ...
, Gower was unable to become 'an ornament at Versailles', i.e. was unable to work closely with the royal family. Gower was scarcely better equipped to handle the complexity of the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...
than his predecessor, the
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, 7th Earl of Dorset.
History
The Sackville family descended from Sir Richard Sackville. His only surviving son, Thomas Sa ...
. He had no previous experience of diplomacy. Gower's main priority in Paris was to provide news from the French court back to Britain, however trivial. Though Gower also reported some popular 'disturbances', he had little comprehension of the broader political climate. On 10 August 1792 an insurrection by the newly established Paris Revolutionary Commune drove the royal family from the Tuileries and three days later Louis was arrested and imprisoned in the Temple fortress. Britain broke off diplomatic relations in protest. The closure of the British embassy meant that the intelligence operations could no longer be run from it, resulting in Britain replacing the ambassador with Captain George Monro, removing Gower from diplomacy in France.
Later political career
After his return to Britain he declined the posts of
Lord Steward of the Household and
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. However, in 1799 he accepted the office of joint
Postmaster General
A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsib ...
, which he retained until 1801. Sutherland played an important part in the downfall of
Henry Addington's administration in 1804, after which he changed political allegiance from the
Tory
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...
to the
Whig party.
After 1807 he played little part in politics, although late in life he supported Catholic Emancipation and the
1832 Reform Act.
From 1794 to 1801, Sutherland was Colonel of the
Staffordshire Volunteer Cavalry, an early form of
yeomanry regiment.
Sutherland also held the honorary posts of
Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire from 1799 to 1801 and
Lord Lieutenant of Sutherland from 1794 to 1830. He was invested as a
Privy Counsellor in 1790, a
Knight of the Garter in 1806 and was created
Duke of Sutherland
Duke of Sutherland is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom which was created by William IV in 1833 for George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Marquess of Stafford. A series of marriages to heiresses by members of the Leveson-Gower family made th ...
on 28 January 1833.
In 1831, the then Marquess of Stafford served the annual post of treasurer of the
Salop Infirmary in
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
.
Wealth
The
Leveson-Gower family
Leveson-Gower ( ), also Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, is the name of a powerful British noble family. Over time, several members of the Leveson-Gower family were made knights, baronets and peers. Hereditary titles held by the family include the duke ...
owned extensive lands in
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands C ...
,
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...
and
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
. In 1803 Sutherland also succeeded to the vast estates of his maternal uncle
Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, which included the
Bridgewater Canal
The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. It was opened in 1761 from Wo ...
and a major art collection including much of the
Orleans Collection; both Gower and his uncle had been members of the consortium which brought it to London for dispersal. According to the will of the Duke of Bridgewater, these passed on the death of the first Duke of Sutherland to his third son Lord Francis Leveson-Gower (see below). This inheritance brought him great wealth. Sutherland is estimated to have been the wealthiest man of the 19th-century, surpassing even
Nathan Rothschild. The precise value of his estate at death is unknown, as it was simply classed as 'upper value'. He was described by
Charles Greville as a "leviathan of wealth" and "...the richest individual who ever died". Following the death of the
Duke of York
Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was ...
in 1827 he purchased the
leasehold of Stafford House (now
Lancaster House), which became the London residence of the dukes of Sutherland until 1912.
Development of Sutherland and Highland clearances
Sutherland and his wife remain controversial figures for their role in carrying out the
Highland Clearances
The Highland Clearances ( gd, Fuadaichean nan Gàidheal , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860.
The first phase result ...
, where thousands of tenants were evicted and rehoused in coastal crofts as part of a program of improvement. The larger clearances in Sutherland were undertaken between 1811 and 1820. In 1811 Parliament passed an Act granting half the expenses of building roads in northern Scotland, on the provision that landowners paid for the other half. The following year Sutherland commenced building roads and bridges in the county, which up to that point had been virtually non-existent. Appalled by the poor living conditions of his tenants and influenced by social and economic theories of the day as well as consulting widely on the subject, he and his
wife
A wife (plural, : wives) is a female in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until the marriage is legally Dissolution (law), dissolved with a divorce judgement. On the death of her partner, ...
(to whom much of the proprietorial oversight of the estate had been delegated) became convinced that subsistence farming in the interior of
Sutherland
Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (later c ...
could not be sustained in the long-term. Much higher rents could be obtained from letting land for extensive sheep farms – so providing a much better income from the estate.
The Sutherland estate management had had plans for clearance for some years, with some clearance activity in 1772 when Lady Sutherland was still a child. However, a shortage of money stopped these plans from progressing to any greater degree – a situation that continued after her marriage to Leveson-Gower. However, when he inherited the vast wealth of the Duke of Bridgewater, plans could proceed – and Leveson-Gower was happy for large amounts of his wealth to be spent on the changes to the Sutherland estate.
Though unusual for the time, much of the oversight of the estate management was delegated to Lady Sutherland, who took a keen interest in the estate, travelling to
Dunrobin Castle
Dunrobin Castle (mostly 1835–1845 — present) is a stately home in Sutherland, in the Highland area of Scotland, as well as the family seat of the Earl of Sutherland and the Clan Sutherland. It is located north of Golspie and approximatel ...
most summers and engaging in a continuous exchange of correspondence with the factor and
James Loch
James Loch (7 May 1780 – 28 June 1855) was a Scottish advocate, barrister, estate commissioner and later a member of parliament.
Biography
Loch was born near Edinburgh on 7 May 1780. He was eldest son of George Loch of Drylaw, Edinburgh. H ...
, the Stafford estate commissioner.
The first of the new wave of clearances involved relocations from
Assynt
Assynt ( gd, Asainn or ) is a sparsely populated area in the south-west of Sutherland, lying north of Ullapool on the west coast of Scotland. Assynt is known for its landscape and its remarkable mountains, which have led to the area, along with ...
to coastal villages with the plan that farmers could take up fishing. The next eviction, in the Strath of Kildonan in 1813, was met with opposition and a six week long confrontation that was resolved by calling out the army and the estate making some concessions to those who were evicted.
In 1814, one of the estate's
factors,
Patrick Sellar, was supervising clearances in Strathnaver when the roof timbers of a house were set on fire (to prevent the house being reoccupied after the eviction) with, allegedly, an elderly and bedridden woman still inside. The woman was rescued, but died six days later.
The local law officer, Robert Mackid, was an enemy of Sellar and started taking witness statements so that Sellar could be prosecuted. The case went to trial in 1816 and Sellar was acquitted. The publicity arising from the trial was not welcome to the Sutherlands. Sellar was replaced as factor and further, larger clearances continued in 1818 to 1820. Despite efforts to avoid press comment, in 1819 ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'' newspaper ran the headline: "the Devastation of Sutherland", reporting the burning of roof timbers of large numbers of houses cleared at the same time.
Monuments
In 1837 a large monument, known locally as the ''Mannie'', was erected on
Ben Bhraggie
Ben Bhraggie ( gd, Beinn a' Bhragaidh) is a hill in Scotland which rises to an elevation of above sea level. The hill dominates the skyline above the village of Golspie and is visible from many parts of east Sutherland. The statue which is per ...
near
Golspie to commemorate the Duke's life. The existence of this statue has been the subject of some controversy—in 1994, Sandy Lindsay, a former
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from th ...
councillor from Inverness proposed its demolition. He later altered his plan, asking permission from the local council to relocate the statue and replace it with plaques telling the story of the Clearances. Lindsay proposed moving the statue to the grounds of
Dunrobin Castle
Dunrobin Castle (mostly 1835–1845 — present) is a stately home in Sutherland, in the Highland area of Scotland, as well as the family seat of the Earl of Sutherland and the Clan Sutherland. It is located north of Golspie and approximatel ...
, after the
J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles declined his offer to take it. There was a failed attempt by vandals to topple the statue in November 2011. A BBC news report of this incident quoted a local person saying that few people wished the statue removed; instead they saw it as an important reminder of history. , however, the statue still stands.
There is also a monument to Leveson-Gower in
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...
. The
Lilleshall Monument
The Lilleshall Monument, also known as the Sutherland Monument, is a 21-metre (70-foot) stone obelisk erected in 1833 on Lilleshall Hill overlooking the village of Lilleshall in Shropshire.
Commemorating George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Suthe ...
, built in 1833, is a 70-foot (21 m) high obelisk, a local landmark visible for some distance around which stands on top of Lilleshall Hill, within the original estates of the Leveson family acquired on the dissolution of
Lilleshall Abbey. The tablet on the north face of the monument reads "To the memory of George Granville Leveson Gower, K.G. 1st Duke of Sutherland. The most just and generous of landlords. This monument is erected by the occupiers of his Grace's Shropshire farms as a public testimony that he went down to his grave with the blessings of his tenants on his head and left behind him upon his estates the best inheritance which a gentleman of England can bequeath to his son; men ready to stand by his house, heart and hand."
There is also a monument erected in the Trentham Gardens Estate,
Trentham,
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands C ...
.
Family
Sutherland married
Elizabeth Sutherland, 19th Countess of Sutherland, daughter of William Sutherland, 18th Earl of Sutherland and the former Mary Maxwell, on 4 September 1785. They had four surviving children:
*
George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland,(11 Aug 1786–1861)
*
Lady Charlotte Sophia Leveson-Gower (c. 1788–1870), married
Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 13th Duke of Norfolk and had issue.
*
Lady Elizabeth Mary Leveson-Gower (1797–1891), married
Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster
Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster (27 January 1795 – 31 October 1869), styled The Honourable Richard Grosvenor from 1795 to 1802, Viscount Belgrave from 1802 to 1831 and Earl Grosvenor from 1831 to 1845, was an English pol ...
and had issue.
*
Francis Leveson-Gower (later Egerton) 1st Earl of Ellesmere, (1800–1857)
Eleven years after becoming enfeebled by a paralytic stroke,
Sutherland died at Dunrobin Castle in July 1833, aged 75, and was buried at
Dornoch Cathedral
Dornoch Cathedral is a former Roman Catholic cathedral and is currently a Church of Scotland parish church serving the small Sutherland town of Dornoch, in the Scottish Highlands. As a congregation of the Church of Scotland, which is Presbyt ...
.
He was succeeded by his eldest son, George. The Duchess of Sutherland died in January 1839, aged 73, and was also succeeded by her eldest son, George.
The Bridgewater Estate was passed in trust in accordance with the Duke of Bridgewater's will, to the Duke's third son Francis.
Ancestry
Legacy
Due to his controversial role in the
Sutherland Clearances, the "Mannie" statue to the Duke in
Golspie, Sutherland has been subject to repeated vandalism.
There are several well-known Gaelic songs mocking the duke personally. Perhaps the most famous of these is ' (Mackay Country or Northern Sutherland, a region hit hard by the Clearances), written by Ewen Robertson, who became known as the "Bard of the Clearances."
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutherland, George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke Of
1758 births
1833 deaths
People educated at Westminster School, London
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
British MPs 1774–1780
British MPs 1780–1784
British MPs 1784–1790
British MPs 1790–1796
British MPs 1796–1800
Diplomatic peers
Dukes of Sutherland
Highland Clearances
George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland
Knights of the Garter
Lord-Lieutenants of Staffordshire
Lord-Lieutenants of Sutherland
Staffordshire Yeomanry officers
Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Newcastle-under-Lyme
Ambassadors of Great Britain to France
United Kingdom Postmasters General
Marquesses of Stafford
Peers of the United Kingdom created by William IV