Colonel James Hamilton Stanhope (1788–1825), was a British Army officer who fought in the
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...
and at the
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
. He was a
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
Buckingham
Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...
, 1817–1818,
Fowey
Fowey ( ; kw, Fowydh, meaning 'Beech Trees') is a port town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town has been in existence since well before the Norman invasion, with the local ch ...
, 1818–1819, and
Dartmouth, 1822–1825.
Biography
He was the third and youngest son of
Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope
Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope, aka Charles Mahon, 3rd Earl Stanhope, FRS (3 August 175315 December 1816), was a British statesman, inventor, and scientist. He was the father of Lady Hester Stanhope and brother-in-law of William Pitt th ...
.
Stanhope was joined in the British Army at the age of 15, contrary to his father's wishes, but by the advice and influence of
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...
; who was 3rd Earl's second cousin, by the marriage of his grandfather, the 1st Earl, to Lucy, sister of Robert Pitt of Boconnock (the Minister's grandfather). He entered the British Army as Ensign in the
1st Foot Guards
"Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it."
, colors =
, colors_label =
, march = Slow: " Scipio"
, mascot =
, equipment =
, equipment ...
, 26 December 1805; was promoted Lieutenant and Captain, 14 January 1808; brevet Major, 21 June 1813; and Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel in the 1st Foot Guards, 25 July 1814.
Stanhope served in Spain, Portugal, Flanders and France. He served as on the staff of General Sir
John Moore as an ''
aide-de-camp'' in 1809. He acted as extra ''aid-de-camp'' to
Lord Lynedock (1810–1814). In 1812 was appointed a Deputy Assistant Quarter Master General, and in 1813 as Assistant Quarter Master General in the Peninsula.
During the
storming of San Sebastian in late August early September 1813, Stanhope received a grape-shot wound in the spine. The opinion of the surgeons by whom he was attended, was that the ball could not, without imminent risk of fatal consequences, be extracted, so it remained lodged in place and caused him immense suffering for the rest of his life. He remained in the army and in 1815 served as an assistant adjacent to
Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...
during the
Waterloo Campaign
The Waterloo campaign (15 June – 8 July 1815) was fought between the French Army of the North (France), Army of the North and two Seventh Coalition armies, an Anglo-allied army and a Prussian army. Initially the French army was commanded by ...
and took part in the
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
and the subsequent the march upon Paris. From 1815 until he died he was aid-de-camp to
Prince Frederick.
Stanhope was first elected to parliament in 1817; he was returned for Fowey at the general election in 1818, but was not re-chosen in 1820. In that year he was, by the will of Sir Joseph Banks, appointed one of his four executors. Stanhope re-entered the House of Commons in early in 1822 as M.P. for Dartmouth, and continued so until his death.
Marriage and death
On 9 July 1820, Stanhope married Frederica-Louisa, eldest daughter of
David William, 3rd Earl Mansfield. She gave birth to one son,
James Stanhope, but died on 14 January 1823.
Greatly afflicted at the death of his wife Stanhope gave up his establishment in
South Audley Street
South Audley Street is a major shopping street in Mayfair, London.'South Audley Street: Introduction', in Survey of London: Volume 40, the Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 2 (The Buildings), ed. F H W Sheppard (London, 1980), pp. 290–291. Bri ...
in London and moved into
Kenwood House
Kenwood House (also known as the Iveagh Bequest) is a former stately home in Hampstead, London, on the northern boundary of Hampstead Heath. The house was originally constructed in the 17th century and served as a residence for the Earls of Mans ...
, the seat of his father-in-law. In 1825 Stanhope was still very depressed over the loss of his wife and continued to suffer physical discomfort from the wound he had received in Spain twelve years earlier.
[ He had appeared very abstracted, and was in the habit of sitting a long time, as if in a state of stupor, and then he would suddenly start up, as if from sleep or upon an alarm. A few days before his death on 5 March, he had complained very much that be could get no sleep, in consequence of the pain he endured. Afflicted in his melancholy manner, whilst walking in the park at some distance from the house, he entered a shed, formed to shelter the cattle, and suspended himself with his braces from a beam. His body was not discovered till some hours after, when, the household being alarmed, a general search was in progress. A Coroner's jury gave a verdict of "temporary insanity".
]
Bibliography
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Notes
References
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;Attribution
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Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanhope, James Hamilton
1788 births
1825 deaths
British politicians who committed suicide
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Fowey
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Dartmouth
UK MPs 1812–1818
UK MPs 1818–1820
UK MPs 1820–1826
James Hamilton
Younger sons of earls
Suicides by hanging in England
Suicides in England
People of the Battle of Waterloo