Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland
PC | |
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First Lord of the Treasury | |
In office 21 March 1718 – 4 April 1721 | |
Monarch | George I |
Preceded by | The Viscount Stanhope |
Succeeded by | Robert Walpole |
Lord President of the Council | |
In office 16 March 1718 – 6 February 1719 | |
Monarch | George I |
Preceded by | The Duke of Devonshire |
Succeeded by | The Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull |
Personal details | |
Born | Charles Spencer 23 April 1675 |
Died | 19 April 1722 Whig | (aged 46)
Spouses | Arabella Cavendish
(m. 1695–1698)Anne Churchill (m. 1700–1716)Judith Tichborne
(m. 1717–1722) |
Children | 10, including Robert, Charles, John, and Diana |
Parent(s) | Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland Anne Digby |
Alma mater | Utrecht University |
Occupation | Statesman |
Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland,
He is an ancestor of both
Early life
He was the second son of
In 1698 he plunged his family into scandal when his brother-in-law
Career
Having succeeded to the peerage in 1702, Sunderland was one of the commissioners for the union between England and Scotland, and in 1705, he was sent to Vienna as envoy extraordinary. Although he was tinged with republican ideas and had made himself obnoxious to Queen Anne by opposing the grant to her husband, Prince George, through the influence of Marlborough he was foisted into the ministry as Secretary of State for the Southern Department, taking office in December 1706.
From 1708 to 1710, he was one of the five
Sunderland continued to take part in public life, and was active in communicating with the court of Hanover about the steps to be taken in view of the approaching death of the queen. He made the acquaintance of George I in 1706, but when the elector became king, Sunderland only secured the comparatively unimportant position of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. In August 1715, he joined the cabinet as Lord Privy Seal. After a visit to George I in Hanover, he secured, in April 1717, the position of Secretary of State for the Northern Department. This he retained until March 1718, when he became First Lord of the Treasury, holding also the post of Lord President of the Council. He was now effectively the prime minister. Sunderland was especially interested in the proposed Peerage Bill, a measure designed to limit the number of members of the House of Lords, but this was defeated owing partly to the opposition of Sir Robert Walpole.[2]
In 1719, he succeeded
The bursting of the
Sunderland inherited his father's passion for intrigue, while his manners were repelling, but he stands high among his associates for disinterestedness and had an alert and discerning mind. From his early years, he had a great love of books, and he spent his leisure and his wealth in forming the library at Althorp, which in 1703 was described as "the finest in Europe." In 1749, part of it was removed to Blenheim Palace.[2]
In 1722 Sunderland was implicated in what became known as the Atterbury Plot, to restore the House of Stuart, and his death was one of the factors which brought the Plot to light.[7]
The town of Sunderland, Massachusetts, was named in his honour in November 1718, just after he became Lord President of the Council.[8]
Marriages and children
His first wife was Lady Arabella Cavendish (19 August 1673 – 4 June 1698), daughter of Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle. They had one daughter:
- Lady Frances Spencer (c. 1696 – 27 July 1742), married Henry Howard, 4th Earl of Carlisle.
His second wife was Lady Anne Churchill (27 February 1683 – 15 April 1716). She died in April 1716, after a career of considerable influence on the political life of her time. They had six children:
- Hon. Robert Spencer (2 December 1700 – 12 September 1701).
- Robert Spencer, 4th Earl of Sunderland (24 October 1701 – 27 November 1729).
- Lady Anne Spencer (1702 – 19 February 1769), married William Bateman, 1st Viscount Bateman.
- Charles Spencer, 5th Earl of Sunderland (22 November 1706 – 20 October 1758), succeeded his aunt, Henrietta Godolphin, 2nd Duchess of Marlborough, as 3rd Duke of Marlborough.
- Hon. John Spencer (13 May 1708 – 19 June 1746), father of John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer.
- Lady Diana Spencer (1710 – 27 September 1735), married John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford.
In 1717, he married an Irish lady of fortune, Judith Tichborne (c. 1702 – 17 May 1749), daughter of Sir Benjamin Tichborne of Beaulieu (younger brother of Sir Henry Tichborne, 1st Baron Ferrard, Irish cr. 1715) and Elizabeth Gibbs. They had three children who died in infancy:
- Unnamed child (born and died 1718).
- Lady Margaret Spencer (born and died 1719) - her coffin was removed from St James' Church London where she had been first been buried and interred at the family vault in Great Brington Church on the same day as her father's burial that of 1st May 1722
- Hon. William Spencer (1720 – 17 April 1722) - interred in the family vault in Great Brinton Church on the same day as his father that of 1st May 1722
After his death, she married Sir Robert Sutton (1671 – 13 August 1746).
See also
Notes
- ^ 1674 in Collier's Encyclopedia, Volume 11 Germanium to Heath Hen, pp. 372–3
- ^ a b c d e public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Sunderland, Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 99. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ Kenyon, J.P Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland 1641-1702 Gregg Revivals reprint 1992 p. 309
- ^ Gregg, Edward Queen Anne Yale University Press 1980 p. 314
- ^ Deutsch, O.E. (1955), Handel. A documentary biography, p. 91. Reprint 1974.
- ^ See the year 1719 Handel Reference Database (in progress)
- ^ Devon and Exeter Oath Rolls, 1723 at foda.org.uk/oaths, accessed 12 June 2013
- ^ "Sunderland, MA - Local Guide". MassLocal.com. Sutton, MA: MassLocal.com. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
Ancestry
References
- Snyder, Henry (May 2006). "Spencer, Charles, third earl of Sunderland (1675–1722)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26117. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)