James Brudenell, 5th Earl of Cardigan (20 April 1725 – 24 February 1811), styled The Honourable James Brudenell until 1780 and known as The Lord Brudenell between 1780 and 1790, was a British courtier and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

from 1754 to 1780 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Brudenell.

Background and education

Brudenell was born in

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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, the second son of

George Brudenell, 3rd Earl of Cardigan George Brudenell, 3rd Earl of Cardigan (29 September 1685 – 5 July 1732), styled Lord Brudenell between 1698 and 1703, was a British peer. Origins He was the son of Francis Brudenell, Lord Brudenell, by his wife Lady Frances Savile, grand-daugh ...

, by Lady Elizabeth Bruce, daughter of

Thomas Bruce, 3rd Earl of Elgin Thomas Bruce, 2nd Earl of Ailesbury (later styled Aylesbury) and 3rd Earl of Elgin (1656 – 16 December 1741), styled Lord Bruce between 1663 and 1685, was an English politician and memoirist. He was the son of Robert Bruce, 2nd Earl of Elgin ...

. He was the brother of

George Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu George Montagu, Duke of Montagu KG, PC, FRS (26 July 1712 – 23 May 1790)G. E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors. The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ir ...

, the Honourable

Robert Brudenell Robert Brudenell (20 September 1726 – 20 October 1768) was a British army officer and Member of Parliament. Brudenell was the third son of the 3rd Earl of Cardigan and Elizabeth Bruce and a younger brother of the 1st Duke of Montagu a ...

and

Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury KT (30 April 1729 – 19 April 1814), styled The Honourable Thomas Brudenell until 1747 and known as The Lord Bruce of Tottenham between 1747 and 1776, was a British courtier. Background and educatio ...

. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

and matriculated at Oriel College, Oxford, from where he graduated in 1747 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree.thepeerage.com James Brudenell, 5th Earl of Cardigan
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Public life

Brudenell was

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

Shaftesbury Shaftesbury () is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is situated on the A30 road, west of Salisbury, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset, being built about above sea level on a ...

from 1754 to 1761, for

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

from 1761 to 1768, for

Great Bedwyn Great Bedwyn is a village and civil parish in east Wiltshire, England. The village is on the River Dun about southwest of Hungerford, southeast of Swindon and southeast of Marlborough. The Kennet and Avon Canal and the Reading to Taunton ...

from March to November 1768 and for

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

1768 to 1780. He served as Deputy

Cofferer of the Household The Cofferer of the Household was formerly an office in the English and British Royal Household. Next in rank to the Comptroller, the holder paid the wages of some of the servants above and below stairs, was a member of the Board of Green Cloth, a ...

from 1755 to 1760, as Master of Robes to the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

from 1758 to 1760, who acceded as

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

, and as

Keeper of the Privy Purse The Keeper of the Privy Purse and Treasurer to the King/Queen (or Financial Secretary to the King/Queen) is responsible for the financial management of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The officeholder is assisted by th ...

from 1760 to 1811. In 1780, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Brudenell, of Deene in the County of Northampton. Ten years later he inherited the earldom of Cardigan from his brother,

, the 4th Earl of Cardigan. In 1791 he was appointed

Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle The Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle is in charge of Windsor Castle in England on behalf of the sovereign. The day-to-day operations are under the Superintendent, who is an officer of the Master of the Household's Department of the Roy ...

(succeeding his brother the Duke of Montagu), a post he held until his death.

Personal life

Lord Cardigan married the Honourable Anne Legge, daughter of George Legge, Viscount Lewisham, in 1760. After her death in November 1786 he married secondly, aged 76, the 32-year-old Lady Elizabeth Waldegrave, daughter of

John Waldegrave, 3rd Earl Waldegrave General John Waldegrave, 3rd Earl Waldegrave (28 April 1718 – 22 October 1784) was a British politician and soldier. Career Waldegrave was the youngest son of the 1st Earl Waldegrave. He joined the 1st Regiment of Foot in 1735, rising to the r ...

, in 1791. Both marriages were childless. He died at Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, London, in February 1811, aged 85. The barony of Brudenell created for him in 1780 died with him. The remaining titles passed to his nephew,

Robert Brudenell, 6th Earl of Cardigan Robert Brudenell, 6th Earl of Cardigan (25 April 1760 – 14 August 1837) was an English peer and Member of Parliament. Early life Robert Brudenell was born in Westminster, the posthumous son and heir of Colonel the Hon. Robert Brudenell and h ...

, son of

. The Countess of Cardigan died at Seymour Place, Mayfair, London, in June 1823, aged 65.

References

*G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant'', new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910–1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume III, page 15.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cardigan, James Brudenell, 5th Earl of 1725 births 1811 deaths People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Earls of Cardigan British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

Peers of Great Britain created by George III