Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos (20 March 1776 – 17 January 1839), styled Earl Temple from 1784 to 1813 and known as the Marquess of Buckingham from 1813 to 1822, was a British landowner and politician.

Background

Born Richard Temple-Nugent-Grenville, he was the eldest son of

George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham (17 June 1753 – 11 February 1813), known as George Grenville before 1779 and as The Earl Temple between 1779 and 1784, was a British statesman. Background and early life Grenville w ...

, son of

George Grenville George Grenville (14 October 1712 – 13 November 1770) was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain, during the early reign of the young George III. He served for only two years (1763-1765), and attempted to solv ...

Prime Minister of Great Britain The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet, and selects its ministers. Modern pr ...

. His mother was Lady Mary Nugent, daughter of

Robert Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent Robert Craggs-Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent, PC (1709 – 13 October 1788) was an Anglo-Irish politician and poet. He was tersely described by Richard Glover as a jovial and voluptuous Irishman who had left "Popery" for the Protestant religion, mo ...

Thomas Grenville Thomas Grenville (31 December 1755 – 17 December 1846) was a British politician and bibliophile. Background and education Grenville was the second son of Prime Minister George Grenville and Elizabeth Wyndham, daughter of Sir William Wyn ...

and

Lord Grenville William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville (25 October 175912 January 1834) was a British Pittite Tory politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1806 to 1807, but was a supporter of the Whigs for the duration of the N ...

were his uncles. He was educated at

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

, where he matriculated in 1791.

Political career

Earl Temple, as he was known in his father's lifetime, was elected Member of Parliament for

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

in 1797. In 1806, he was made a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

and appointed

Vice-President of the Board of Trade The office of Vice-president of the Board of Trade was a junior ministerial position in the government of the United Kingdom at the Board of Trade, within the Department for Business and Trade. The office of Vice-president was created in 1786 b ...

and Joint

Paymaster of the Forces The Paymaster of the Forces was a position in the British government. The office was established in 1661, one year after the Restoration (1660), Restoration of the Monarchy to Charles II of England, and was responsible for part of the financin ...

in the Ministry of All the Talents headed by his uncle,

. He retained these posts until the fall of the Grenville administration in 1807. He left the House of Commons in 1813 when he succeeded his father in the marquessate. In 1820, he was appointed a

Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system, it is outranked in ...

. In 1822, he was further honoured when he was made Earl Temple of Stowe, with remainder to his granddaughter Anne Eliza Mary, and Marquess of Chandos and Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, with normal remainder to heirs male. He returned to ministerial office in July 1830 when he was made

Lord Steward of the Household The Lord Steward or Lord Steward of the Household is one of the three Great Officers of the Royal Households of the United Kingdom, Household of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarch. He is, by tradition, the first great officer of ...

, but only held the post for a short while. Apart from his political career, he was also

Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire There has been a Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire almost continuously since the position was created by King Henry VIII in 1535. The only exception to this was the English Civil War and English Interregnum between 1643 and 1660 when there was n ...

from 1813 to 1839. Buckingham also owned a plantation in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

and in Britain, including thirty-eight properties in the Old Nichol.

Nicknames A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

such as "Lord Grenville's fat nephew", Ph D (''Phat Duke''), and the "gros Marquis", attested to his size and unpopularity.

Family

In April 1796, aged 20, the then Earl Temple married the Lady Anne Brydges, daughter and sole heir of the late

James Brydges, 3rd Duke of Chandos James Brydges, 3rd Duke of Chandos, PC (27 December 1731 – 29 September 1789), styled Viscount Wilton from 1731 to 1744 and Marquess of Carnarvon from 1744 to 1771, was an English politician. Background Chandos was the only son of H ...

. Accordingly, Nugent-Temple-Grenville added Brydges and Chandos to their family names (and those of their children) by

royal licence Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roy ...

of 15 November 1799; Debrett's
(Retrieved 10 August 2015) their full family name became the remarkable ''quintuple''-barrelled Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville. His wife died in 1836 and he died in January 1839, aged 62, and he was succeeded by his son,

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

References

External links

Earls Nugent Peers of the United Kingdom created by George IV Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford