Geoffrey Duke Coleridge, 3rd Baron Coleridge (23 July 1877 – 27 March 1955) was responsible for making the archive of his family member the

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lak ...

available to researchers for the first time.

Biography

The only son of Bernard Coleridge MP, and grandson of John Coleridge, a

Lord Chief Justice of England Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

, Coleridge 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 ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. He graduated from

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

in 1900 with a BA.Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, page 852 As a young man he often travelled the law circuits with his father, and went with him to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, where he later claimed to have danced down

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

with

Ellen Terry Dame Alice Ellen Terry, (27 February 184721 July 1928), was a leading English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into a family of actors, Terry began performing as a child, acting in Shakespeare plays in London, and tour ...

.Kathleen Coburn, 'In Pursuit of Coleridge' Published by Bodley Head (1977) Coleridge served as a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in the 3rd Battalion, the

Devonshire Regiment The Devonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that served under various titles and served in many wars and conflicts from 1685 to 1958, such as the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. In 1 ...

until resigning his commission in 1901. He served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

in the 4th Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment, and was promoted Acting Captain in April 1917. Coleridge left the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in 1919. He succeeded to the title of 3rd Baron Coleridge of Ottery St. Mary on 24 September 1927 after the death of his father. In 1930 Coleridge and his wife were approached by

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

Kathleen Coburn Kathleen Hazel Coburn (September 7, 1905 – September 23, 1991) was a Canadian academic and a leading authority on the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Life Born in Stayner, Ontario, a fourth generation Canadian of Scottish–Irish desc ...

for permission to examine the family archive at The Chanter's House for material written by his great-great-great uncle,

. The Coleridges mistakenly thought Coburn was interested in the house and its furniture. She later wrote,

`When I said it was chiefly in any manuscripts and annotated books of the poet in the library, I could see even ady Coleridge'sself-control quail. Not a word was said. Geoffrey Coleridge bantered: `Old Sam was only a poet, you know, never did anything practical that was any good to anybody, actually not thought much of in the family, a bit of a disgrace in fact ... why a young girl like you should spend your time on the old reprobate, I can't think! ... Now I at least know something about beef cattle ...'.

Coburn wrote that Coleridge

"...had a brusque, dry, caustic tongue which could be rude or frightening if intuition didn't tell one that the last thing to do was be offended or frightened. With Lady Coleridge's gentle encouragement I cheerfully returned his grapeshot."

Realising that her intentions were serious, he gave her unlimited access to the Coleridge family archive, which he allowed her to have photographed and the copies placed in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, and granted her permission to edit and publish the

Notebooks A notebook is a small book often used for writing. Notebook or The Notebook may also refer to: Computing *Laptop, a type of personal computer * Google Notebook, a discontinued online application * Notebook interface, a type of programming envir ...

. In 1949 Coburn was instrumental in negotiating the sale of this Chanter's House archive to the

for £10,200, with a donation from the Pilgrim Trust. The collection was eventually deposited with the British Museum in May 1951.'The Times' July 28, 1951 Coleridge held the office of

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or '' puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the s ...

for Devon from 1929 to 1952. He married Jessie Alethea Mackarness (1880–1957), daughter of George Evelyn Mackarness, on 14 September 1904 at St. Michael's Church in Sandhurst. They had three sons, the oldest, Richard Duke Coleridge succeeding to the

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

on his father's death. Coleridge died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

at the family home, The Chanter's House in

Ottery St Mary Ottery St Mary, known as "Ottery", is a town and civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England, on the River Otter, about east of Exeter on the B3174. At the 2001 census, the parish, which includes the villages of Metcombe, F ...

in 1955, aged 77.

References

External links

Coleridge on Peerage.comColeridge in 'In Pursuit of Coleridge' by Kathleen Coburn. Review by Hazel K. Bell
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleridge, Geoffrey Duke, 4th Baron 1877 births 1955 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Geoffrey Eldest sons of British hereditary barons