Lord William Pitt Lennox (20 September 1799 – 18 February 1881) was a British Army officer and writer.

Biography

Lennox, fourth son of Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, and the former Lady Charlotte Gordon, was born at Winestead Hall, Yorkshire, 20 September 1799, and was a godson of William Pitt and a cousin of

Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the arch-riv ...

. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

from 1808 to 1814. On 13 May 1813, while still at school, he was gazetted to a cornetcy in the Royal Horse Guards, and on 8 August 1814 accompanied the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish soldier and Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of Uni ...

as an attaché in his embassy to Paris. In 1815 he was attached to General Sir

Peregrine Maitland General Sir Peregrine Maitland, GCB (6 July 1777 – 30 May 1854) was a British soldier and colonial administrator. He also was a first-class cricketer from 1798 to 1808 and an early advocate for the establishment of what would become the Canad ...

's staff, was present at his mother's memorable ball in Brussels, and saw some portion of 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 ...

, but was prevented by the effects of a horse accident, which cost him the sight of one eye, from taking an active part in it.
History of Parliament Online article by Howard Spencer and Margaret Escott. For three years after Waterloo he acted as an aide-de-camp to Wellington. He then joined his regiment in England, was promoted to be a captain 28 March 1822, and retired by the sale of his commission 25 March 1829. He was an extra aide-de-camp to his father while he was governor-general of Canada, 1818–1819, and was one of the pages at the coronation of

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

, 19 July 1821. He represented King's Lynn, Norfolk, in conjunction with

Lord George Bentinck Lord William George Frederick Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck (27 February 180221 September 1848), better known as Lord George Bentinck, was an English Conservative politician and racehorse owner noted for his role (with Benjamin Disraeli) in unseatin ...

, as a moderate reformer and a supporter of the government from 10 December 1832 to 29 December 1834, and spoke on the

Reform Bill In the United Kingdom, Reform Act is most commonly used for legislation passed in the 19th century and early 20th century to enfranchise new groups of voters and to redistribute seats in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...

, on fees paid on vessels in quarantine, and on the Anatomy Bill. Lennox however was more interested in sport and literature, and preferred a life of gaiety and leisure. He was devoted to horse-racing, delighted in private theatricals, and once ran a hundred yards race in Hill Street, Berkeley Square, at midnight. He figured in Benjamin Disraeli's ''Vivian Grey'' as Lord Prima Donna (1827). He contributed to the annuals during their popularity, and to ''Once a Week'' and those serials which dealt with military and sporting topics. ''Memoirs of Madame Malibran'', by Lady Merlin, 2 vols. 1840, was based on a manuscript by Lennox. In 1858 he edited the ''Review'' newspaper. He wrote several feeble novels, which had a brief success; but his volumes of personal recollections contain interesting anecdotes about court and other celebrities. In later life, when he was far from rich, he often acted as a paid lecturer, and regularly contributed to the ''Court Journal''. He died at 34 Hans Place, Sloane Street, London, 18 February 1881, and was buried in

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Establ ...

on 25 February.

Family

Lennox was married three times: # 7 May 1824, to Mary Anne Paton (1802–1864), singer—this marriage was dissolved by the Scotch court of session in 1831 # 1854 to Ellen, daughter of John Smith—she died 3 November 1859 # 17 November 1863, to Maria Jane, eldest daughter of the Rev. Capel Molyneux—she, in 1888, wrote a novel entitled ''Castle Heather''.

Chief works

# ''Compton Audley, or Hands not Hearts'', 1841, 3 vols. # ''Tuft Hunter'', 1843, 3 vols. # ''Percy Hamilton, or the Adventures of a Westminster Boy'', 1851, 3 vols. # ''Three Years with the Duke of Wellington in Private Life'', 1853. # ''Philip Courtenay, or Scenes at Home and Abroad'', 1855, 3 vols. # ''The Story of my Life'', 1857, 3 vols. # ''The Victoria Cross, the Rewarded and their Services'', 1857. # ''Merrie England, its Sports and Pastimes'', 1858. # ''Pictures of Sporting Life and Character'', 1860, 2 vols. # ''Recollections of a Sportsman'', 1862, 2 vols. # ''Life of the Fifth Duke of Richmond'', anon., 1862. # ''Fifty Years' Biographical Reminiscences'', 1863, 2 vols. # ''The Adventures of a Man of Family'', 1864, 3 vols. # ''Drafts on my Memory'', 1866, 2 vols. # ''Sport at Home and Abroad'', 1872, 2 vols. # ''My Recollections'', 1874, 2 vols. # ''Celebrities I have known'', 1876–7, 4 vols. # ''Coaching, with Anecdotes of the Road'', 1876. # ''Fashion then and now'', 1878, 2 vols. # ''Lord of Himself'', 1880, 3 vols. # ''Plays, Players, and Playhouses at Home and Abroad'', 1881, 2 vols.

Notes

References

* Endnotes: **Lennox's autobiographic works, especially: ***''Fifty Years' Biographical Reminiscences'', 1863, 2 vols. ***''My Recollections'', 1874, 2 vols. ** ''Times'', 19 February 1881, p. 10, 22 February p. 9 ** ''Illustrated London News'', 26 February 1881, p. 214.

External links