John James Robert Manners, 7th Duke of Rutland, (13 December 18184 August 1906), known as Lord John Manners before 1888, was an English
statesman
A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level.
Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to:
Newspapers United States
* ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a ...
.
Youth and poetry
Rutland was born at
Belvoir Castle, the younger son of
John Manners, 5th Duke of Rutland, by
Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of
Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle.
Charles Manners, 6th Duke of Rutland, was his elder brother and
Lord George Manners
Lord George John Manners (22 June 1820, in London – 8 September 1874, in Cheveley) was a British nobleman and Conservative Party politician who represented Cambridgeshire for over two decades, from 1847 to 1857 and from 1863 to 1874, when he d ...
his younger brother. He was educated at
Eton College
Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...
, then entered
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
in 1836.
At Cambridge, he was a member of the
University Pitt Club
The University Pitt Club, popularly referred to as the Pitt Club, the UPC, or merely as Club, is a private members' club of the University of Cambridge, with a previously male-only membership but now open to both men and women.
History
The ...
. He graduated
MA in 1839, and was later awarded the honorary degrees of
LLD
Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...
by the same university in 1862, and
DCL by Oxford in 1876.
He wrote two books of poetry: ''England's Trust and Other Poems'', published in 1841, and ''English Ballads and Other Poems'', published in 1850. The 1841 book contains his famous quote: "Let wealth and commerce, laws and learning die, But leave us still our old Nobility!" The 1850 book contains his poem "A Legend of Haddon Hall."
Political career
In 1841 Rutland was returned for
Newark in the Tory interest, along with
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-con ...
, and sat for that borough until 1847. Subsequently, he sat for
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...
, 1850–57; for
North Leicestershire, 1857–85; and for
Melton from 1885 until, in 1888, he took his seat in 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 ...
upon succeeding to the dukedom.
Young England
In the early 1840s, Manners was a leading figure in the
Young England
{{about, the Conservative political group, imaginary military society, Edward Oxford
Young England was a Victorian era political group with a political message based on an idealised feudalism: an absolute monarch and a strong Established Church, ...
movement, led by
Benjamin Disraeli
Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation ...
. This party sought to reduce the predominance of the middle class ''bourgeoisie'', and to re-create the political prestige of the aristocracy by proving its capacity to ameliorate the social, intellectual, and material condition of the peasantry and the labouring classes. At the same time its members looked for a regeneration of the Church, and the rescue of both the Church and Ireland from the troubles inherited from the
Whig predominance of the 18th century. Manners made an extensive tour of inspection in the industrial parts of northern England, in the course of which he and his friend
George Smythe, later 7th Viscount Strangford, gave well-received speeches. In 1843 he supported
Lord Grey's motion for an inquiry into the condition of England, the serious disaffection of the working classes of the north being a subject to which he was constantly drawing the attention of parliament. Among other measures that he urged were the disestablishment of the Irish Church, the modification of the
Statutes of Mortmain
The Statutes of Mortmain were two enactments, in 1279 and 1290, passed in the reign of Edward I of England, aimed at preserving the kingdom's revenues by preventing land from passing into the possession of the Church. Possession of property by a ...
, and the resumption of regular diplomatic relations with the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum
The Holy See
* The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
. In the same year he issued in pamphlet form a strong ''Plea for National Holydays''.
In 1844 Lord John vigorously supported the
Factories Act ("Ten-hours Bill"), which, though strongly opposed by Manchester representatives, was ultimately passed in May 1847. In October 1844 he took part in, and spoke at, the ''soirée'' held at the
Manchester Athenaeum under the presidency of Disraeli. A few days later, he and his friends attended a festival at
Bingley
Bingley is a market town and civil parish in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, on the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which had a population of 18,294 at the 2011 Census.
Bingley ra ...
, in Yorkshire, to celebrate the allotment of land for gardens to working men, a step which, through the agency of his father, he had done a great deal to further.
However, divergences of opinion starting in 1845 eventually led to the disruption of the movement.
Cabinet
During the three short administrations of
Lord Derby (1852, 1858–59, and 1866–68) he sat in the cabinet as
First Commissioner of Works
The First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings was a position within the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and subsequent to 1922, within the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ir ...
. In 1852 he was admitted to the
Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...
. On the return of the Conservatives to power in 1874, he became
Postmaster-General under Disraeli, and was made
GCB on his retirement in 1880. He was again Postmaster-General in
Lord Salisbury's administration, 1885–86, and was head of the department when sixpenny telegrams were introduced. Finally, in the Conservative government of 1886–92 he was
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. The position is the second highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the Prime Minister, and senior to the Minist ...
.
He was made a
Knight of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George ...
in 1891. In 1896 he was created Baron Roos of Belvoir, in the County of Leicester, when his son
Henry Manners was summoned to the House of Lords by a
writ of acceleration in his father’s title of Baron Manners.
He was patron of
Saint Martin's League
Saint Martin's League was a devotional society in the Church of England for letter carriers. It was founded in 1877 by Arthur Henry Stanton at the Church of St Alban the Martyr, Holborn. Its stated object was "Love to God and Man."
:To God: by ...
for letter carriers.
Sporting interests
He had a sympathetic interest in the Olympian Games movement of
William Penny Brookes
William Penny Brookes (13 August 1809 – 11 December 1895) was an English surgeon, magistrate, botanist, and educationalist especially known for founding the Wenlock Olympian Games, inspiring the modern Olympic Games, and for his promotion of p ...
, first shown when he joined a party with his first cousin
Lord Forester that viewed the first
Wenlock Olympian Games
The Wenlock Olympian Games, dating from 1850, are a forerunner of the modern Olympic Games. They are organised by the Wenlock Olympian Society (WOS), and are held each year at venues across Shropshire, England, centred on the little market town ...
at
Much Wenlock
Much Wenlock is a market town and parish in Shropshire, England, situated on the A458 road between Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. Nearby, to the northeast, is the Ironbridge Gorge, and the new town of Telford. The civil parish includes the villa ...
in 1850. He there and then donated a cash prize of £1 (worth approximately £80 in 2017) to the committee, who awarded it to the winner of a running race.
He was a member of the council of the fourth National Olympian Games that were held, again at Much Wenlock, in 1874.
In 1883 he was president of Wenlock Olympian Games themselves that year.
Family
Rutland married firstly Catherine Louisa Georgina, daughter of Colonel George Marlay and Lady Catherine Butler, and granddaughter of
George Marlay
George Marlay was an Irish Anglican priest in the eighteenth century: he was Bishop of DromoreAtkinson,W.E 'Dromore - An Ulster Diocese', P 35 from 1745 until 1763. He gave his name to Marlay Park, which is now a popular amenity in south Dublin.
...
,
Bishop of Dromore
The Bishop of Dromore is an episcopal title which takes its name after the original monastery of Dromore in County Down, Northern Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church the title still continues as a separate bishopric, but in the Church of Irela ...
, in 1851. They had one child:
*
Henry John Brinsley Manners, 8th Duke of Rutland (1852–1925)
Catherine died in April 1854.
Rutland married secondly Janetta, daughter of Thomas Hughan, in 1862. They had seven children, including:
*
Lord Edward William John Manners (1864–1903)
*Lady Katherine Selina Janetta Manners (1866-1900)
*
Lord Cecil Reginald John Manners (1868–1945)
*Lieutenant Colonel Lord Robert William Orlando Manners (1870–1917), an officer in the
King's Royal Rifle Corps
The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United ...
. This son was killed whilst commanding 10th Bn.
Northumberland Fusiliers during the
Great War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. He was awarded the
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III.
It is named in honour ...
and the
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...
. He is buried in The Huts Cemetery, six kilometres southwest of
Ypres
Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though
the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality ...
. He married in 1902 Mildred Mary Buckworth, daughter of Rev. Charles P. Buckworth and widow of a fellow KRRC-officer Major Henry Buchanan-Riddell.
*Lady Victoria Alexandrina Elizabeth Dorothy Manners (1876–1933)
*Lady Elizabeth Emily Manners (1878–1924), who in 1903 married
Lord George Scott[SCOTT, Lord George (William Montagu-Douglas-)](_blank)
''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2016 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2014)
His second family also had a Scottish property: St Mary's Tower in
Dunkeld
Dunkeld (, sco, Dunkell, from gd, Dùn Chailleann, "fort of the Caledonians") is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The location of a historic cathedral, it lies on the north bank of the River Tay, opposite Birnam. Dunkeld lies close to t ...
.
[Perth Post Office Directory 1865: Noblemen and Country Gentlemen's Seats]
Rutland succeeded to the dukedom of Rutland in March 1888, upon the death of his elder brother. The Duchess of Rutland died in July 1899. Rutland survived her by seven years and died on 4 August 1906, aged 87, at Belvoir Castle.
Ancestry
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutland, John Manners, 7th Duke Of
1818 births
1906 deaths
People educated at Eton College
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
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