Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough

Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough

Coat of arms of Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough

Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough KG , PC ( November 22, 1706 - October 20, 1758 ) was a British peer , politician and general .

Life

Charles Spencer was the second born son of Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland , and his second wife Lady Anne Churchill, the second daughter of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough . He attended Eton College .

When his older brother Robert Spencer, 4th Earl of Sunderland , who had inherited his father in 1722, died childless in 1729 , Charles inherited the paternal nobility titles as 5th Earl of Sunderland and 7th Baron Spencer and thereby became a member of the House of Lords .

His maternal aunt Henrietta Churchill, 2nd Duchess of Marlborough , died in 1733 , whereupon he inherited the title of 3rd Duke of Marlborough , 3rd Marquess of Blandford , 3rd Earl of Marlborough and 2nd Baron Churchill from her. He also inherited their family seat Blenheim Palace near Woodstock in Oxfordshire along with extensive estates, moved to these and transferred the Sunderland estates to his younger brother John (1708–1746), the father of 1st Earl Spencer .

In January 1739 he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire for life . From 1738 to 1743 he held the court office of Lord of the Bedchamber . In 1741 he was accepted as a Knight Companion in the Order of the Garter and in 1744 as a Fellow in the Royal Society . In 1746 he was awarded an honorary doctorate (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Oxford University . In 1749 he was admitted to the Privy Council and from 1749 to 1755 he held the court office of Lord Steward of the Household and from January to December 1755 the state office of Lord Seal Keeper.

As a Colonel in the British Army , he was in command of the 38th Regiment of Foot from 1738 to 1739 , of the 1st Regiment of Dragoons from 1739 to 1740 , of the 2nd Troop of the Royal Horse Guards from 1740 to 1743, and of the 2nd Regiment of Foot Guards from 1742 to 1744 . He fought in the War of the Austrian Succession , was promoted to Brigadier-General in 1743 and distinguished himself in the Battle of Dettingen . In 1745 he was promoted to major-general . In 1755 he received the post of Master General of the Ordnance and was promoted to Lieutenant-General in July 1758 . During the Seven Years' War he commanded an expeditionary force that attacked and destroyed the fortifications of Cherbourg and Saint-Malo between May and August 1758 . On August 29, 1758 he was appointed general and commander in chief of all foot troops. In October 1758 he died of a fever .

Spencer was one of the co-founders of the Foundling Hospital , an institution that primarily served to accept foundlings and orphans, as well as infants from poor, often single mothers who could not provide for their offspring's livelihood.

Marriage and offspring

On May 23, 1732, he married Elizabeth Trevor, daughter and heiress of Thomas Trevor, 2nd Baron Trevor . He had five children with her:

• Lady Diana Spencer (1734–1808), ⚭ (1) 1757–1768 Frederick St. John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke , ⚭ (2) 1768 Topham Beauclerk, grandson of Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St. Albans ;
• George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough (1739–1817) ⚭ 1762 Lady Caroline Russell, daughter of John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford ;
• Lord Charles Spencer (1740–1820), MP, ⚭ 1762 Hon. Mary Beauclerk († 1812), sister of Aubrey Beauclerk, 5th Duke of St. Albans;
• Lady Elizabeth Spencer († 1831) ⚭ 1756 Henry Herbert, 10th Earl of Pembroke ;
• Lord Robert Spencer († 1831) ⚭ 1811 Harriet Fawkener, widow of the Hon. Edward Bouverie (son of Jacob Bouverie, 1st Viscount Folkestone ), daughter of Sir Everard Fawkener, British ambassador to Constantinople.

literature

• Gerald le Grys Norgate:  Spencer, Charles (1706-1758) . In: Sidney Lee (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 53:  Smith - Stanger. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1898, pp. 349 - 352 (English).

Web links

• Lt.-Gen. Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough on thepeerage.com
• Marlborough, Duke of (E, 1702) at Cracroft's Peerage

Individual evidence

1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 7774, HMSO, London, January 23, 1738, p. 1 ( PDF , English).
2. ↑ London Gazette . No. 7998, HMSO, London, 17 March 1741, p. 3 ( PDF , English).
3. ^ Frederick M. Powicke, Edmund B. Fryde (Eds.): Handbook of British Chronology. Royal Historical Society, London 1961, p. 95.
4. ↑ London Gazette . No. 7689, HMSO, London, April 1, 1739, p. 1 ( PDF , English).
5. ↑ ^{a b} London Gazette . No. 7909, HMSO, London, May 10, 1740, p. 2 ( PDF , English).
6. ↑ London Gazette . No. 8218, HMSO, London, April 26, 1743, p. 2 ( PDF , English).
7. ↑ London Gazette . No. 8094, HMSO, London, February 16, 1742, p. 2 ( PDF , English).
8. ↑ London Gazette . No. 8369, HMSO, London, October 6, 1744, p. 1 ( PDF , English).
9. ↑ London Gazette . No. 8200, HMSO, London, February 22, 1743, p. 3 ( PDF , English).
10. ↑ London Gazette . No. 8420, HMSO, London, April 2, 1745, p. 1 ( PDF , English).
11. ↑ London Gazette . No. 9811, HMSO, London, July 23, 1758, p. 1 ( PDF , English).
12. ↑ London Gazette . No. 9821, HMSO, London, August 26, 1758, p. 1 ( PDF , English).

predecessor	Office	successor
Henrietta Churchill	Duke of Marlborough 1733-1758	George Spencer
Robert Spencer	Earl of Sunderland 1729-1758	George Spencer
Edward Montagu	Governor of Kingston upon Hull 1738–1740	James Dormer
Francis Godolphin	Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire 1739–1758	George Spencer
Richard Temple	Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire 1739–1758	Richard Grenville-Temple
William Cavendish	Lord Steward of the Household 1749–1755	John Manners
John Leveson-Gower	Lord Seal Keeper 1755	Granville Leveson-Gower