Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

Richard Lumley, 2nd Earl of Scarbrough (30 November 1686 – 29 January 1740), of Stansted Park, Sussex and Lumley Castle, County Durham, known as Viscount Lumley from 1710 to 1721, was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer and Whig politician who sat in the

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from 1708 until 1715 when he was raised to the House of Lords as Baron Lumley. He subsequently inherited his father's title as Earl of Scarbrough. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot at the age of 53.

Early life

Lumley was the second son of Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough. 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 about 1702 and was admitted at

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

in 1703.

Career

At the 1708 British general election, 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 northeast corner of the county, bord ...

. 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 at the 1710 British general election. He also became vice-admiral of County Durham in 1710. He voted for the ‘ No Peace Without Spain’ 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 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 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 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 in 1715 and fought against the Jacobites 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 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 of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

in 1722 and was made a Knight of the Garter 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 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 (formally the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children) was a children's home in London, England, founded in 1739 by the philanthropy, philanthropic Captain (nautical), sea captain ...

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Death and legacy

Lord Scarbrough died by shooting himself on 29 January 1740, aged 53. At the time of his

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

, 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, Scarbrough killed himself. Lord Scarbrough was buried on 4 February 1740 in the Grosvenor Chapel in South Audley Street, Mayfair. Scarbrough's titles passed to his brother, Thomas.

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 died by suicide Earls of Scarbrough People from Stoughton, West Sussex 18th-century suicides Younger sons of earls