Lord Adolphus Frederick Charles William Vane-Tempest (2 July 1825 – 11 June 1864), known until 1854 as Lord Adolphus Vane, was a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. He was the fourth child (and second son) of Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry and his wife

Frances Anne Vane, Marchioness of Londonderry Frances Anne Vane, Marchioness of Londonderry (17 January 1800 – 20 January 1865) was a wealthy English heiress and noblewoman. She was the daughter of Sir Henry Vane-Tempest, 2nd Baronet. She married Charles William Stewart, 1st Baron Stewar ...

. In December 1852, he was elected at a by-election as

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 ...

(MP) for the City of Durham, but the election was overturned on petition the next year. In 1854 he was elected unopposed to 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. ...

as MP for

North Durham North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

after the death of his father, filling the seat vacated by his elder brother George Vane-Tempest, Viscount Seaham, who succeeded to the peerage as Earl Vane. He held the seat until his death in 1864, aged 38. During the enthusiasm for the

Volunteer Movement The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...

in 1859–60, although his brothers were connected with the 2nd (Seaham) Durham Artillery Volunteer Corps formed at the family's

Seaham Colliery The Seaham Colliery was a coal mine in County Durham in the North of England. The mine suffered an underground explosion in 1880 which resulted in the deaths of upwards of 160 people, including surface workers and rescuers. Among the dead were ...

, Lord Adolphus raised and commanded an infantry corps, the

Sunderland Rifles The Sunderland Rifles was a Volunteer unit of the British Army formed in 1860. It went on to become a Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry (DLI) in the Territorial Force and saw action as infantry and pioneers in some of the bloodiest actions o ...

. According to Anne Isba, author and Victorian Studies scholar, Vane was "notoriously unstable" and was "described by Queen Victoria as having 'a natural tendency to madness.' Vane, who on one occasion violently attacked his wife and infant son, died four years later during a struggle with four keepers."Anne Isba
''Gladstone and Women''
2006, p.96

Ancestry

References

External links

* 1825 births 1864 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 Younger sons of marquesses

Adolphus Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and to a lesser extent in vari ...

Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for City of Durham {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1820s-stub