Richard Lumley, 2nd Earl of Scarbrough (30 November 1686 – 29 January 1740), of

Stansted Park Stansted Park (including Stansted House) is an Edwardian country house in the parish of Stoughton, West Sussex, England. It is near the city of Chichester, and also the village of Rowlands Castle to the west over the border in Hampshire. The ...

, Sussex and

Lumley Castle Lumley Castle is a 14th-century quadrangular castle at Chester-le-Street in the North of England, near the city of Durham and a property of the Earl of Scarbrough. It is a Grade I listed building. It is currently a hotel. History It is named a ...

, County Durham, known as Viscount Lumley from 1710 to 1721, was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer and Whig 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. ...

from 1708 until 1715 when he was raised to the House of Lords as

Baron Lumley There have been four creations of the title Baron Lumley, all in the Peerage of England: The first creation was in 1384 for Sir Ralph Lumley but after being beheaded by the citizens of Cirencester for his part in the Epiphany Rising, he was p ...

. He subsequently inherited his father's title as

Earl of Scarborough Earl of Scarbrough is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1690 for Richard Lumley, 2nd Viscount Lumley. He is best remembered as one of the Immortal Seven who invited William of Orange to invade England and depose his father- ...

. He committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.

Early life

Lumley was the second son of

Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough (1650 – 17 December 1721), was an English soldier and statesman best known for his role in the Glorious Revolution. Origins Lumley was the son of John Lumley and Mary Compton, and the grandson of Richa ...

. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

in about 1702 and was admitted at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

in 1703.

Career

At the

1708 British general election The 1708 British general election was the first general election to be held after the Acts of Union had united the Parliaments of England and Scotland. The election saw the Whigs finally gain a majority in the House of Commons, and by November ...

, Lumley was returned as Whig MP for

East Grinstead East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the extreme northeast of the county, the civ ...

. He supported the naturalization of the Palatines in 1709. He wished to serve in the army, and though not given a commission, he joined the Duke of Marlborough for the campaign in the spring and summer of 1709. In 1710, he voted for the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell. He succeeded his recently deceased, elder brother as MP for

Arundel Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much large ...

at the

1710 British general election The 1710 British general election produced a landslide victory for the Tories. The election came in the wake of the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell, which had led to the collapse of the previous government led by Godolphin and the Whig Junto. ...

. He also became vice-admiral of County Durham in 1710. He voted for the ‘

No Peace Without Spain No Peace Without Spain was a popular British political slogan of the early eighteenth century. It referred to the ongoing War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) in which Britain was a leading participant. It implied that no peace treaty cou ...

’ motion on 7 December 1711. By January 1712 he held an army commission as lieutenant-colonel of horse and became lieutenant-colonel of the

1st Dragoon Guards The 1st King's Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army. The regiment was raised by Sir John Lanier in 1685 as the 2nd Queen's Regiment of Horse, named in honour of Queen Mary, consort of King James II. It was renamed the 2nd K ...

in 1713. He told against a Court amendment to the Address on 10 April 1713, and voted on against the French commerce bill on 18 June 1713. At the

1713 British general election The 1713 British general election produced further gains for the governing Tory party. Since 1710 Robert Harley had led a government appointed after the downfall of the Whig Junto, attempting to pursue a moderate and non-controversial policy, b ...

he was returned again for Arundel. He was concerned about the movements of the Pretender and campaigned for his removal from Lorraine. He spoke and voted against the expulsion of Richard Steele from the House. In 1714 he was appointed Lord of the bedchamber to the Prince of Wales in September 1714 and became

Master of the Horse Master of the Horse is an official position in several European nations. It was more common when most countries in Europe were monarchies, and is of varying prominence today. (Ancient Rome) The original Master of the Horse ( la, Magister Equitu ...

to the Prince of Wales in November 1714. In 1715, Lumley was called to the House of Lords in his father's barony of Lumley. He became colonel and captain of the

1st Foot Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

in 1715 and fought against the

Jacobites Jacobite means follower of Jacob or James. Jacobite may refer to: Religion * Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Churches in the Jacobite tradition and sometimes called Jacobite include: ** Syriac Orthodox Church, sometime ...

at the Battle of Preston that year. He remained a Whig supporter in the House of Lords, but in 1717 he was forced to sell his regiment for his adherence to the Prince of Wales. On 2 May 1721 he stood as proxy for Ernest, Duke of York at the baptism of William Augustus. After inheriting his father's titles in December 1721, as Lord Scarbrough, he became

Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland This is a list of people who have served as Lord-Lieutenant of Northumberland. Since 1802, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Northumberland. *Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland *Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland ? ...

and Colonel of the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

in 1722 and 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 ...

on 9 July 1724. On the accession of King George II in 1727, he became Master of the Horse to the King and 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 mon ...

on 15 June 1727. He gave up his court post in 1734 and was promoted to major-general in 1735 and lieutenant-general in 1739. In 1739, he was one of the founding governors for the

Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital in London, England, was founded in 1739 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children." The word "hospital" w ...

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Death and legacy

Lord Scarbrough committed suicide by shooting himself through the roof of the mouth on 29 January 1740, aged 53. At the time of his death it was rumoured to have been brought on by a mental disorder he developed from a knock on the head when he had an accident in his carriage a few days before. There was also a rumour that he had killed himself because of a betrayal of trust. The rumour ran that he had confided a secret of State to the dowager Duchess of Manchester whom he had been about to marry, and that she had then told this secret to others. When word got back to the king of the source of the leak of the secret, Scarborough killed himself. Lord Scarborough was buried on 4 February 1740 in the

Grosvenor Chapel Grosvenor Chapel is an Anglican church in what is now the City of Westminster, in England, built in the 1730s. It inspired many churches in New England. It is situated on South Audley Street in Mayfair. History The foundation stone of the Grosven ...

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 ...

, Mayfair. Scarborough's titles passed to his brother,

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Scarbrough, Richard Lumley, 2nd Earl Of 1686 births 1740 deaths Lumley, Richard Lumley, Richard Lumley, Viscount Lumley, Richard Lumley, Richard Lumley, Viscount Lumley, Richard Lumley, Viscount Coldstream Guards officers Knights of the Garter Lord-Lieutenants of Northumberland Lumley, Richard, Viscount Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Lumley, Richard Suicides by firearm in England British politicians who committed suicide Earls of Scarbrough People from Stoughton, West Sussex 18th-century suicides