George Granville Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland, KG (8 August 178627 February 1861), styled Viscount Trentham until 1803, Earl Gower between 1803 and 1833 and Marquess of Stafford in 1833, was a British Whig MP and peer from the

Leveson-Gower family Leveson-Gower ( ), also Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, is the name of a powerful British noble family. Over time, several members of the Leveson-Gower family were made knights, baronets and peers. Hereditary titles held by the family include the duke ...

Early life

Sutherland-Leveson-Gower was born at

Portland Place Portland Place is a street in the Marylebone district of central London. Named after the Third Duke of Portland, the unusually wide street is home to BBC Broadcasting House, the Chinese and Polish embassies, the Royal Institute of British ...

, London, on 8 August 1786. and baptised at

St Marylebone Parish Church St Marylebone Parish Church is an Anglican church on the Marylebone Road in London. It was built to the designs of Thomas Hardwick in 1813–17. The present site is the third used by the parish for its church. The first was further south, near Ox ...

. He was the eldest son of

George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland George Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland KG, PC (9 January 175819 July 1833), known as Viscount Trentham from 1758 to 1786, as Earl Gower from 1786 to 1803 and as the Marquess of Stafford from 1803 to 1833, was an English politi ...

, and his wife Elizabeth Sutherland, ''

suo jure ''Suo jure'' is a Latin phrase, used in English to mean 'in his own right' or 'in her own right'. In most nobility-related contexts, it means 'in her own right', since in those situations the phrase is normally used of women; in practice, especi ...

'' Countess of Sutherland. He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (sc ...

from 1798 to 1803, then entered

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniq ...

, where he graduated B.A. in 1806 and

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1810. In 1841 he graduated D.C.L. at the same university. Between 1806 and 1808, Earl Gower travelled in

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

. During the Prussian campaign against

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

's French forces, he spent time at the Prussians' general headquarters.

Career

After returning from Europe, Earl Gower entered the

Commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons c ...

as MP for the

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorate ...

St Mawes St Mawes ( kw, Lannvowsedh) is a village on the end of the Roseland Peninsula, in the eastern side of Falmouth harbour, on the south coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village, formerly two separate hamlets, lies on the east bank of th ...

in 1808. In 1812, he transferred to sit for the Staffordshire borough of

Newcastle-Under-Lyme Newcastle-under-Lyme ( RP: , ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. The 2011 census population of the town was 75,082, whilst the wider borough had a population of 1 ...

, until 1815, when he stood to become one of the county MPs for

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands C ...

, sitting until 1820. He was also

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibilit ...

for the

County of Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (later co ...

from 1831 until his death, was appointed High Steward of the Borough of

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in th ...

in 1833, and was

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

from 1839 to 1845. He was appointed Knight of the

Order 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 Georg ...

(KG) in 1841.

Cricket

Sutherland was an active

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er in 1816 when he played for

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influe ...

and a team organised by E. H. Budd in a total of three matches.

Peerage

His father died in 1833, only six months after being created

Duke of Sutherland Duke of Sutherland is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom which was created by William IV in 1833 for George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Marquess of Stafford. A series of marriages to heiresses by members of the Leveson-Gower family made th ...

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

for his support for the

Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...

, and so this new title devolved on his eldest son. His mother, who was 19th Countess of Sutherland in her own right, died in 1839, and so her ancient Scottish title passed to George, who also became 20th Earl of Sutherland. As a result, the two titles were united in the same person until 1963. It was the 2nd Duke who assumed the additional surname of Sutherland, so that his family name became Sutherland-Leveson-Gower.

Personal life

On 28 May 1823, Sutherland was married to Lady Harriet Elizabeth Georgiana Howard (1806–1868). Lady Harriet was a daughter of

George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle of Castle Howard, (17 September 17737 October 1848), styled Viscount Morpeth until 1825, was a British statesman. He served as Lord Privy Seal between 1827 and 1828 and in 1834 and was a member of Lord Grey ...

. Together, they were the parents of eleven children, seven daughters and four sons: * Lady Elizabeth Georgiana Sutherland-Leveson-Gower (1824–1878), who married George Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll, and had issue. * Lady Evelyn Sutherland-Leveson-Gower (1825–1869), who married

Charles Stuart, 12th Lord Blantyre Charles Walter Stuart, 12th Lord Blantyre, DL (21 December 1818 – 15 December 1900), styled Master of Blantyre from birth until 1830, was a Scottish politician and landowner with . Born at Lennoxlove House, Stuart was the second son of Rober ...

. * Lady Caroline Sutherland-Leveson-Gower (1827–1887), who married

Charles FitzGerald, 4th Duke of Leinster Charles William FitzGerald, 4th Duke of Leinster, (30 March 1819 – 10 February 1887), styled Marquess of Kildare until 1874, was an Anglo-Irish peer and politician. Background Leinster was born in Dublin, Ireland. He was the son of Augustus F ...

, and had issue. * George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 3rd Duke of Sutherland (1828–1892), who married Anne Hay-Mackenzie. * Lady Blanche Julia Sutherland-Leveson-Gower (1830–1832), who died in infancy. * Lord Frederick George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower (1832–1854), who died unmarried. * Lady Constance Gertrude Sutherland-Leveson-Gower (1834–1880), who married

Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster, (13 October 1825 – 22 December 1899), styled Viscount Belgrave between 1831 and 1845, Earl Grosvenor between 1845 and 1869, and known as The Marquess of Westminster between 1869 and 1874, was an ...

, and had issue. * Lady Victoria Sutherland-Leveson-Gower (1838–1839), who died in infancy. * Lord Albert Sutherland-Leveson-Gower (1843–1874), who married Grace Abdy, daughter of

Sir Thomas Neville Abdy, 1st Baronet Sir Thomas Neville Abdy, 1st Baronet, DL JP (21 December 1810 – 20 July 1877) was a British baronet and politician. Background He was the only son of Captain Anthony Abdy, a maternal greatgrandson of Sir William Abdy, 4th Baronet, and his w ...

, and had issue, including Frederick Leveson-Gower. * Lord Ronald Charles Sutherland-Leveson-Gower (1845–1916), who died unmarried. * Lady Alexandrina Sutherland-Leveson-Gower (1848–1849), who died in infancy. He was a keen book collector and was one of the founder members of the

Roxburghe Club The Roxburghe Club is a bibliophilic and publishing society based in the United Kingdom. Origins The spur to the Club's foundation was the sale of the enormous library of the Duke of Roxburghe (who had died in 1804), which took place over 46 da ...

in 1812. He was a trustee of the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...

from 1835 and of 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 ...

from 1841 to his death, as well as appointed a Fine Arts Commissioner in 1841. The Duke died, aged 75, at

Trentham Hall The Trentham Estate, in the village of Trentham, is a visitor attraction located on the southern fringe of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, United Kingdom. History The estate was first recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086. At th ...

in Staffordshire, one of his English mansions, after a period of illness.

Building projects

Sutherland was partially deaf and therefore decided not to play a very active part in politics which was the path well-worn by his contemporary peers. Instead, he expended his energies by spending some of the vast wealth which he inherited from his father on improving his homes. In 1845, he employed Sir

Charles Barry Sir Charles Barry (23 May 1795 – 12 May 1860) was a British architect, best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament) in London during the mid-19th century, but also respon ...

to make vast alterations to

Dunrobin Castle Dunrobin Castle (mostly 1835–1845 — present) is a stately home in Sutherland, in the Highland area of Scotland, as well as the family seat of the Earl of Sutherland and the Clan Sutherland. It is located north of Golspie and approximatel ...

. Barry transformed the place into the 189-room ducal palace which we see today. In addition to Dunrobin, the Duke also had Barry completely remodel his

seat of

Cliveden House Cliveden (pronounced ) is an English country house and estate in the care of the National Trust in Buckinghamshire, on the border with Berkshire. The Italianate mansion, also known as Cliveden House, crowns an outlying ridge of the Chiltern ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...

, and the family's London townhouse,

Stafford House Lancaster House (originally known as York House and then Stafford House) is a mansion in the St James's district in the West End of London. It is close to St James's Palace, and much of the site was once part of the palace complex. This Gr ...

, which was the most valuable private home in the whole of London.

Descendants

A very large proportion of today's British aristocracy are descended from the 2nd Duke of Sutherland. Through the marriages of his daughters, he is the ancestor of the present Dukes of Hamilton & Brandon,

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

, Roxburghe,

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of ...

, and

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, the present Marquesses of

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, n ...

and Londonderry, the present earls of Selkirk,

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west o ...

and Cromartie, and the present

Viscount Dilhorne Viscount Dilhorne, of Greens Norton in the County of Northampton, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 7 December 1964 for the lawyer, Conservative politician and former Lord Chancellor, Reginald Manningham-Buller, ...

, among many others. His male line died out on the death of his great-grandson, the 5th Duke, in 1963, and the title passed to John Egerton, a descendant of the 2nd Duke's brother

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome * Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) Places *Rural ...

who was not descended from the 2nd Duke (although his wife, Diana, was). The present ''Countess'' of Sutherland ''is'' a direct descendant of the 2nd Duke. He was also the ancestor of the late Duchess of Beaufort, but not of the present Duke of Beaufort. Other notable descendants include the naturalist

Gavin Maxwell Gavin Maxwell FRSL FZS FRGS (15 July 19147 September 1969) was a British naturalist and author, best known for his non-fiction writing and his work with otters. He wrote the book ''Ring of Bright Water'' (1960) about how he brought an otter ba ...

and the spymaster

Eliza Manningham-Buller Elizabeth Lydia Manningham-Buller, Baroness Manningham-Buller, (born 14 July 1948) is a retired British intelligence officer. She was Director General of MI5, the British internal Security Service, from October 2002 until her retirement in Apr ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutherland, George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of 1786 births 1861 deaths People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Dukes of Sutherland George Knights of the Garter George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland Lord-Lieutenants of Shropshire Lord-Lieutenants of Sutherland Gower, George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Earl Gower, George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Earl Gower, George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Earl Sutherland, D2 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Newcastle-under-Lyme English cricketers English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 E. H. Budd's XI cricketers