Henry George Francis Reynolds-Moreton, 2nd Earl of Ducie (8 May 1802 – 2 June 1853), styled the Hon. Henry Reynolds-Moreton from 1808 to 1837 and the Lord Moreton from 1837 to 1840, was a British Whig politician, agriculturalist and cattle breeder.

Early life

Ducie was born on 8 May 1802, the son of Thomas Reynolds-Moreton, 1st Earl of Ducie, and his wife Lady Frances Herbert, daughter of Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Carnarvon. He was educated at Eton. Lord Ducie married the Hon. Elizabeth, daughter of John Dutton, 2nd Baron Sherborne, on 29 June 1826. They had eleven sons and four daughters.

Career

Lord Moreton entered Parliament for

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

in 1831, a seat he held until the following year when the constituency was abolished, and then represented Gloucestershire East until 1835. After entering the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

on the death of his father in 1840 he served in the Whig administration of Lord Russell as a

Lord-in-waiting Lords-in-waiting (male) or baronesses-in-waiting (female) are peers who hold office in the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. In the official Court Circular they are styled "Lord in Waiting" or "Baroness in Waiting" (without ...

(government whip in the House of Lords) from 1846 to 1847, when he resigned. In Parliament he gained a reputation as an advocate of free trade. He supported the repeal of the

Corn Laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. The la ...

and, as an agriculturalist, his views were influential. Between 1848 and 1853, a new

Tortworth Court Tortworth Court is a Victorian architecture, Victorian mansion in Tortworth near Thornbury, South Gloucestershire, Thornbury, South Gloucestershire. England. It was built in Tudor Style architecture, Tudor style for the Henry Reynolds-Moreton, 2n ...

was built for Ducie, in a Tudor style, to designs by the architect Samuel Sanders Teulon. Despite his political career, Ducie is best remembered as a leading agriculturalist and as a breeder of

shorthorn The Shorthorn breed of cattle originated in the North East of England in the late eighteenth century. The breed was developed as dual-purpose, suitable for both dairy and beef production; however, certain blood lines within the breed always em ...

s. From 1851 to 1852 he was President of the Royal Agricultural Society. The sale of his famous shorthorns shortly after his death in 1853 generated £9,000. He was a prominent member of the Evangelican Alliance.

Later life

He died on 2 June 1853 at his home,

, Whitfield, Gloucestershire aged 51, and was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

. His wife, the Countess of Ducie, died in 1865. As his son Henry died in October 1921 without a living son, the earldom passed to another of Lord Ducie's sons

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

who had immigrated to

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia.

Legacy

The "Ducie

cultivator A cultivator (also known as a rotavator) is a piece of agricultural machinery, agricultural equipment used for secondary tillage. One sense of the name refers to frames with ''teeth'' (also called ''shanks'') that pierce the soil as they ar ...

" usually ascribed to him is in fact believed to have been invented by the managers of his ironworks at

Uley Uley is a village and civil parish in the county of Gloucestershire, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Elcombe and Shadwell and Bencombe, all to the south of the village of Uley, and the hamlet of Crawley to the north. The village ...

Arms

Notes

References

* Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ducie, Henry Reynolds-Moreton, 2nd Earl of 1802 births 1853 deaths People from South Gloucestershire District Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Gloucestershire People educated at Eton College UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 Ducie, E2 Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club