Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland

Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland KG (* 1674 , † 9. April 1722 in London ) was an English politician and statesman, primarily for his involvement in the South Sea Bubble ( South Sea Bubble was known), the first great stock market crash of European history.

Life

Charles Spencer, mezzotint by John Simon, after George Kneller , 1724 (1720)

Charles Spencer was the second son of Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland . With the death of his older brother Henry in Paris in September 1688 , he became the heir to the peerage . Charles, whom John Evelyn had described as "an occasion for extraordinary hope", studied in Utrecht and in 1695 moved into the English lower house for Tiverton . In the same year he married Lady Arabella Cavendish, daughter of Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle . Arabella died as early as 1698, and Charles married Anna Churchill, daughter of the famous John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, in 1700 . This connection was of great importance to Sunderland and his descendants. Through them he came into contact with politics and through them the title of Duke of Marlborough came to the Spencers, who later called themselves Spencer-Churchill. All subsequent Dukes of Marlborough, whose most famous descendant was the future Prime Minister Winston Churchill , and also the Earls Spencer , whose most famous descendant was Diana Frances Spencer known as Lady Di , come from this connection.

After having succeeded his father in peerage in 1702, Spencer was a member of the commission that negotiated the union between the kingdoms of England and Scotland. In 1705 he graduated from Cambridge University with a doctorate in law (LL.D.) and was sent to Vienna in the same year as envoy extraordinary .

Though he was open to Republican ideas and fallen out of favor with Queen Anne , Marlborough's influence made him Secretary of State for the Southern District (office until 1782, responsible for southern England, Wales , Ireland , the American colonies (until 1768) and relations with the Roman Catholic and Muslim countries in Europe) in December 1706. From 1708 to 1710 he was one of the five Whigs known as the junta who dominated the government. But since he had many enemies and the queen was not well disposed to him, he was released in June 1710. Anne offered him an annual pension of £ 3,000 a year, which he rejected with the words: “If he did not have the honor to serve his country, he would not plunder it.” (“If he could not have the honor to serve his country he would not plunder it ").

Sunderland continued to take an active part in public life. He was in contact with the Hanoverian court and negotiated the measures to be taken in the face of the approaching death of the Queen and the transfer of the English royal dignity to the House of Hanover. Although he had been acquainted with the Elector and later King George since 1706 , he received only the comparatively insignificant post of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland after his accession to power . In August 1715 he appeared as Lord Privy Seal (Engl. Lord Privy Seal ) again to the Cabinet and received - after a visit to King George in Hanover - in April 1717 the Office of the Secretary of State for the Northern District (responsible for the north of England, Scotland and relations with the Protestant states of Northern Europe). In this office he remained until March 1718, when he became First Lord Treasurer (English First Lord of the Treasury ) and at the same time Lord President of the Council . He was now de facto Prime Minister , even if this designation was only used for his successor Sir Robert Walpole for the first time.

Spencer's main interest was the peerage bill , which was introduced as a bill , aimed at limiting the number of members of the House of Lords, and - at least in part - failed because of Sir Robert Walpole's opposition. He was still at the head of government when the South Seas Bubble plunged hundreds of businessmen and aristocrats into bankruptcy. This affair was political ruin for Spencer too. Although he was involved in the introduction of the system, he had not benefited financially from it. Even so, public opinion was against him, and it was only thanks to Robert Walpole's influence that the House of Commons acquitted him when the matter was investigated.

In April 1721, the Earl of Sunderland resigned from office, but retained his influence over King George until his death on April 8, 1722.

Spencer had inherited his father's penchant for intrigue and repulsive manners, but his altruism was far superior to his contemporaries and had an alert and critical mind. He had a passion for books from an early age. He used his free time and his fortune to build a large library in Althorp , which in 1703 was described as "the best in Europe". Some of it came to Blenheim Palace in 1749 .

Anne Churchill, his second wife, had died in April 1716 after a life of notable influence on the political life of her time. In the following year, the Earl married the rich Irish Judith Tichborne († 1749) in third marriage. With Lady Anne Churchill he had three sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Robert (1701–1729), followed him in 1722 as 4th Earl and the second son, Charles (1706–1758), became 5th Earl in 1729. In 1733 Charles inherited the Dukedom of Marlborough and transferred the Sunderland estates to his brother John, the father of the first Earl Spencer .

In 1693, at the age of 18, he entered into a romance with the London handsome Edward Wilson. From then on he led a double life. However, the affair was exposed and Spencer was blackmailed. Seeing no way out of this uncomfortable situation for him, he finally committed suicide in 1722. The English term "queer" (actually English for blossom, counterfeit money) for "homosexual" goes back to Spencer, as he was remembered by the English public as a counterfeiter - on the one hand because of the double life he led and on the other hand because of him as First Lord attempted by the Treasury to introduce worthless paper money into England, which led to the loss of their property to many citizens.

literature

• W. Coxe: Memoirs of Marlborough. 1847-1848.
• Earl Stanhope : History of England. 1853.
• I. Si Leadam: Political History of England, 1702-1760. 1909.

Web links

• Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland on thepeerage.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Georg Klauda: The Liberation from the Seraglio , pp. 12-13.

predecessor	Office	successor
Robert Spencer	Earl of Sunderland 1702-1722	Robert Spencer
Charles Talbot	Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1714-1717	Charles Townshend
Thomas Wharton	Lord seal keeper 1715-1716	Evelyn Pierrepont
William Cavendish	Lord President of the Council 1717-1719	Evelyn Pierrepont