Philip Stanhope, 1st Baron Weardale

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Hon. Philip Stanhope
"A Cynical Radical"
As depicted by "Spy" (Leslie Ward) in Vanity Fair, 25 July 1906

Philip James Stanhope, 1st Baron Weardale (8 December 1847 – 1 March 1923), was a British

philanthropist
.

Background and early life

Stanhope was born in Marylebone, London.[citation needed] A member of an important political family, he was the younger son of Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope, and Emily Harriet Kerrison, daughter of General Sir Edward Kerrison, 1st Baronet. Arthur Stanhope, 6th Earl Stanhope, and Edward Stanhope were his elder brothers (in contrast to him they were both Conservative Party politicians).[1] Having joined the Royal Navy as a young man, he rose to the rank of lieutenant before he left the service.[2]

Political career

In 1886 Stanhope was elected to the

Harborough, a seat he held until 1906,[5] when he was elevated to the peerage as Baron Weardale, of Stanhope in the County of Durham.[6]

A prominent opponent of war – including the

National Portrait Gallery.[2]

With

Euston Station by a suffragette who mistook him for the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith.[2]

Personal life

Lord Weardale married Countess Alexandra Tolstoy (1856–1934), granddaughter of the German-born

Count Tolstoy, a relative of the writer Leo Tolstoy, in 1877.[2] They lived at The Wodehouse near Wombourne, where they entertained William Ewart Gladstone.[7]

In 1906, he built Weardale Manor, a

country house on Toys Hill, Brasted Chart, near Sevenoaks in Kent. A substantial house – 145 rooms – it was only occupied during the summer months. He died in Sevenoaks in March 1923, aged 75, and was buried at Chevening. As he had no children the barony became extinct on his death. After his death, Lady Weardale rarely visited Weardale Manor. On her death in 1934, she left it to her nephew, Lord Stanhope. Lacking the funds to maintain it, he allowed it to fall into disrepair and it was demolished in 1939,[8] as were many country houses
at that time.

Further reading

References

  1. ^ thepeerage.com Philip James Stanhope, 1st Baron Weardale of Stanhope
  2. ^ a b c d 'Death of Lord Weardale. Philanthropist And Politician', The Times, 2 March 1923.
  3. ^ leighrayment.com House of Commons: Waterloo to West Looe[usurped]
  4. ^ leighrayment.com House of Commons: Bristol to Buteshire and Caithness[usurped]
  5. ^ leighrayment.com House of Commons: Hackney to Harwich[usurped]
  6. ^ "No. 27874". The London Gazette. 12 January 1906. p. 270.
  7. ^ Review by Eugenio F. Biagini of Gladstone: Heroic Minister, 1865-1898. Professor R. T. Shannon. London: Allen Lane, 1999, xvii+702 pp.
  8. ^ Kev Reynolds, Walking in Kent (Cicerone Press Limited, 2007), p. 51.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Wednesbury
1886–1892 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Burnley
1893–1900 		Succeeded by
William Mitchell
Preceded by
Harborough
1904–1906
 Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation
Baron Weardale

1906–1923 		Extinct
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