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 Thomas Reynolds-Moreton, 1st Earl of Ducie (31 August 1776 – 22 June 1840) was the first Earl of Ducie. He was the son of Francis Reynolds-Moreton, 3rd Baron Ducie, and his wife, the former Mary Provis. and was educated at Eton College and Exe ...

, and his wife Lady Frances Herbert, daughter of

Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Carnarvon Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

. He 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 ...

. Lord Ducie married the Hon. Elizabeth, daughter of

John Dutton, 2nd Baron Sherborne John Baron Dutton, 2nd Baron Sherborne (24 January 1779 – 18 October 1862), was a British peer. Background Sherborne was the son of James Dutton, 1st Baron Sherborne, of Sherborne, Gloucestershire, by his wife Elizabeth Coke (1753–1824), ...

, on 29 June 1826. They had eleven sons and four daughters.

Career

Lord Moreton entered Parliament for

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

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, 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 ...

on the death of his father in 1840 he served in the Whig administration of Lord Russell as a Lord-in-waiting (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. They wer ...

and, as an agriculturalist, his views were influential. 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 emp ...

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,

Tortworth Court Tortworth Court is a Victorian mansion in Tortworth near Thornbury, South Gloucestershire. England. It was built in Tudor style for the 2nd Earl of Ducie. It is a Grade II* listed building. History The mansion was built, in Tudor styl ...

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

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

. 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 ...

who had immigrated to

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia.

Legacy

The "Ducie

cultivator A cultivator is a piece of 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 are dragged through it linearly. It also refers to mac ...

" 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 i ...

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 Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club