Edward Charles Stewart Robert Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 8th Marquess of Londonderry, (18 November 1902 – 17 October 1955), styled Lord Stewart until 1915 and Viscount Castlereagh between 1915 and 1946, was a British peer and politician.

Early life

Born on 18 November 1902, into an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

aristocratic family with its roots in

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

and

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

, he was the second child and only son of the 7th Marquess of Londonderry and his wife, the Honourable Edith Helen Chaplin. King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

stood sponsor at his christening in the Chapel Royal (St. James's Palace) on 16 December 1902, the other sponsors being his grandfather

Lord Londonderry Marquess of Londonderry, of the County of County Londonderry, Londonderry ( ), is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. History The title was created in 1816 for Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry, Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Londonderry ...

, Hon. Arthur Meade (later Earl of Clanwilliam), and the Duchess of Teck. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

. In 1911, he was a

page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...

at the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary. He was painted holding his grandfather's coronet by

Philip de László Philip Alexius László de Lombos (born Fülöp Laub; ; 30 April 1869 – 22 November 1937), known professionally as Philip de László, was an Anglo-Hungarian painter known particularly for his portraits of royal and aristocratic personages. ...

. The

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

now hangs at

Mount Stewart Mount Stewart is a 19th-century house and garden in County Down, Northern Ireland, owned by the National Trust. Situated on the east shore of Strangford Lough, a few miles outside the town of Newtownards and near Greyabbey, it was the Iris ...

, County Down. He was known formally by his

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but is rather used by custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some context ...

, Viscount Castlereagh, before he inherited the

Marquessate A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or widow) ...

, and as Robin by close friends and family throughout his life.

Career

He worked as honorary

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché () is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified ac ...

to the British Embassy in Rome and as a director of Londonderry Collieries, the family's coal mining company. A keen football fan, he was first a director and then chairman of

Arsenal Football Club The Arsenal Football Club, commonly known as simply Arsenal, is a professional association football, football club based in London Borough of Islington, Islington, North London, England. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of ...

from 1939 to 1946. Lord Londonderry was an accomplished public speaker and, before succeeding his father as Marquess in 1949, was the Unionist Member of Parliament for Down in the

House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

from 1931 to 1945.

Marriage and family

He was married on 31 October 1931 at

St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. Dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, there has been a church on the site since at least the medieval pe ...

to Romaine Combe (d. 19 December 1951), the daughter of Major Boyce Combe, of

Farnham Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the ...

, Surrey, and had issue: * Lady Jane Antonia Frances Vane-Tempest-Stewart (born 11 August 1932) *

Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart Lady Annabel Goldsmith (' Vane-Tempest-Stewart, formerly Birley; born 11 June 1934) is an English socialite and the eponym for a London nightclub of the late 20th century, Annabel's. She was first married for two decades to entrepreneur Mark ...

(born 13 June 1934) * Alexander Charles Robert Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 9th Marquess of Londonderry (7 September 1937 – 20 June 2012) Lord Londonderry was a celebrated host and practical joker, reportedly once decorating the Christmas tree at Wynyard with condoms to startle a visiting cleric. He was an attentive husband and devoted father, entertaining his family with stories and tales. Also regarded as slightly eccentric, on one occasion Lord Londonderry had taken to his bed drunk, when Ruth Graham, the wife of the American evangelist

Billy Graham William Franklin Graham Jr. (; November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American Evangelism, evangelist, ordained Southern Baptist minister, and Civil rights movement, civil rights advocate, whose broadcasts and world tours featuring liv ...

, came to call. Although informed that His Lordship was "indisposed", Mrs Graham insisted upon admission to his bedroom, having "come all the way on Billy's account". She was duly announced. Lord Londonderry threw aside the bedsheets and shouted, "Get in." He had an awkward and distant relationship with his parents, especially his father. The two men took opposite sides during industrial disputes involving the family coal mines, most notably during the

General Strike A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...

in 1926. When he married Romaine, a brewer's daughter, his family viewed the union with disdain. It was a happy marriage by all accounts; but Lady Londonderry died from cancer in 1951 and her husband plunged into depression and alcoholism. "Daddy changed, literally overnight, into a complete drunk," Lady Annabel Goldsmith, his daughter, recalled. "It was awful. He would collapse while making speeches to the cricket club, that kind of thing. He was on the bottle night and day."Langley, William
'Profile: Lady Annabel Goldsmith'
''The Sunday Telegraph'', 6 October 2007. Accessed 25 March 2008. Lord Londonderry died from liver failure on 17 October 1955, at age 52. He was buried alongside his wife at Wynyard Park and both were later re-interred in the Londonderry family vault at St Mary's Church, Longnewton,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Londonderry, Robin Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 8th Marquess of 1902 births 1955 deaths People educated at Eton College Vane-Tempest-Stewart Vane-Tempest-Stewart Vane-Tempest-Stewart Londonderry, M8 Ulster Unionist Party MPs Arsenal F.C. directors and chairmen Deputy lieutenants of Down Deputy lieutenants of Durham Robin Deaths from liver failure 8 British businesspeople in the coal industry