James Brudenell, 5th Earl of Cardigan (20 April 1725 – 24 February 1811), styled The Honourable James Brudenell until 1780 and known as The Lord Brudenell between 1780 and 1790, was a British courtier and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

from 1754 to 1780, when he was raised to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

Baron Brudenell Earl of Cardigan is a title in the Peerage of England that was created by Charles II in 1661 for Thomas Brudenell, 1st Baron Brudenell, and the title has been held since 1868 by the Marquesses of Ailesbury. Since that time, it has been used ...

Background and education

Brudenell was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, the second son of

George Brudenell, 3rd Earl of Cardigan George Brudenell, 3rd Earl of Cardigan (29 September 1685 – 5 July 1732), styled Lord Brudenell between 1698 and 1703, was a British peer. Origins He was the son of Francis Brudenell, Lord Brudenell, son and heir of Robert Brudenell, 2nd Earl ...

, by Lady Elizabeth Bruce, daughter of

Thomas Bruce, 3rd Earl of Elgin 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 A ...

. He was the brother of

George Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu George Montagu, Duke of Montagu KG, PC, FRS (26 July 1712 – 23 May 1790)G. E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors. The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, I ...

, the Honourable

Robert Brudenell Robert Brudenell (20 September 1726 – 20 October 1768) was a British army officer and Member of Parliament. Brudenell was the third son of the 3rd Earl of Cardigan and Elizabeth Bruce and a younger brother of the 1st Duke of Montagu ...

and

Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury, Order of the Thistle, KT (30 April 1729 – 19 April 1814), styled The Honourable Thomas Brudenell until 1747 and known as the Lord Bruce between 1747 and 1776, was a British courtier. Background an ...

. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

and matriculated at

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

, from where he graduated in 1747 with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree.thepeerage.com James Brudenell, 5th Earl of Cardigan
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Public life

Brudenell was Member of Parliament for

Shaftesbury Shaftesbury () is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is on the A30 road, west of Salisbury, Wiltshire, Salisbury and north-northeast of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hi ...

from 1754 to 1761, for

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

from 1761 to 1768, for

Great Bedwyn Great Bedwyn is a village and civil parish in east Wiltshire, England. The village is on the River Dun about southwest of Hungerford, southeast of Swindon and southeast of Marlborough. The Kennet and Avon Canal and the Reading to Taunt ...

from March to November 1768 and for

Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...

1768 to 1780. He served as Deputy

Cofferer of the Household The cofferer of the Household was formerly an office in the English and British Royal Household. Next in rank to the Comptroller, the holder paid the wages of some of the servants above and below stairs, was a member of the Board of Green Cloth, ...

from 1755 to 1760, as Master of Robes to the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

from 1758 to 1760, who acceded as

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

, and as

Keeper of the Privy Purse The Keeper of the Privy Purse and Treasurer to the King/Queen (or Financial Secretary to the King/Queen) is responsible for the financial management of the Royal Households of the United Kingdom, Royal Household of the Monarchy of the United Kingd ...

from 1760 to 1811. In 1780, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Brudenell, of

Deene Deene is a small village and civil parish near Deenethorpe and Bulwick in North Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bo ...

in the County of

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

. Ten years later he inherited the earldom of Cardigan from his brother,

, the 4th Earl of Cardigan. In 1791 he was appointed

Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle The Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle is in charge of Windsor Castle in England on behalf of the sovereign. The day-to-day operations are under the Superintendent, who is an officer of the Master of the Household's Department of the Roya ...

(succeeding his brother the Duke of Montagu), a post he held until his death.

Personal life

Lord Cardigan married the Honourable Anne Legge, daughter of George Legge, Viscount Lewisham (c. 1704 – 1732), in 1760. After her death in November 1786 he married secondly, aged 76, the 32-year-old Lady Elizabeth Waldegrave, daughter of

John Waldegrave, 3rd Earl Waldegrave General (United Kingdom), General John Waldegrave, 3rd Earl Waldegrave (28 April 1718 – 22 October 1784) was a British politician and soldier. Career Waldegrave was the youngest son of the James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldeg ...

, in 1791. Both marriages were childless. He died at

Grosvenor Square Grosvenor Square ( ) is a large garden square in the Mayfair district of Westminster, Greater London. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from the duke's surname "Grosvenor". It was deve ...

Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...

, London, in February 1811, aged 85. The barony of Brudenell created for him in 1780 died with him. The remaining titles passed to his nephew,

Robert Brudenell, 6th Earl of Cardigan The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

, son of

. The Countess of Cardigan died at

Seymour Place Seymour Place is a street in Marylebone in Central London. Located in the City of Westminster, it runs north from Seymour Street until it meets Marylebone Road, where it becomes Lisson Grove. It is crossed by Crawford Street, George Street, Mary ...

, Mayfair, London, in June 1823, aged 65.

References

*G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant'', new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910–1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume III, page 15.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cardigan, James Brudenell, 5th Earl of 1725 births 1811 deaths People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Earls of Cardigan British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

Peers of Great Britain created by George III