William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale
The Right Honourable The Earl of Lonsdale FRS PC | |
---|---|
Postmaster General | |
In office 9 September 1841 – 30 December 1845 | |
Monarch | Victoria |
Prime Minister | Sir Robert Peel, Bt |
Preceded by | The Earl of Lichfield |
Succeeded by | The Earl of St Germans |
Lord President of the Council | |
In office 27 February 1852 – 17 December 1852 | |
Monarch | Victoria |
Prime Minister | The Earl of Derby |
Preceded by | The Marquess of Lansdowne |
Succeeded by | The Earl Granville |
Personal details | |
Born | (1787-07-21)21 July 1787 |
Died | 4 March 1872(1872-03-04) (aged 84) |
Nationality | British |
Political party | Tory |
William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale, PC, FRS (21 July 1787 – 4 March 1872), styled Viscount Lowther between 1807 and 1844, was a British Tory politician.
Background
Lonsdale was the eldest son of William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale, and Lady Augusta, daughter of John Fane, 9th Earl of Westmorland. Henry Lowther was his younger brother. He was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge.[1][2]
Political career
Lonsdale was returned to parliament for Cockermouth in 1808, a seat he held until 1813,[3] and later represented Westmorland between 1813 and 1831 and 1832 and 1841,[4] Dunwich in 1832[5] and West Cumberland between 1832 and 1833.[6] He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1818[7] and served under the Duke of Wellington as First Commissioner of Woods and Forests between 1828 and 1830 and under Sir Robert Peel as Treasurer of the Navy and Vice-President of the Board of Trade between 1834 and 1835.
In 1841 he was summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration in his father's junior title of Baron Lowther and held office under Peel as Postmaster General between 1841 and 1845. In 1844 he succeeded his father in the earldom of Lonsdale. He held his last ministerial office as Lord President of the Council,[8] with a seat in the cabinet, in 1852, in the Earl of Derby's first administration.
Lonsdale was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on 5 July 1810.[9] He was also Lord Lieutenant of Cumberland and Westmorland between 1844 and 1868.[1]
Personal life
Lord Lonsdale never married, but acknowledged three illegitimate children born to opera singers or dancers; he left them substantial sums in his will. His daughter with Caroline Saintfal, Marie Caroline, was born in Paris in 1818.[10] Another daughter born the same year, Frances ("Fanny") Lowther (1818–1890), was registered as the daughter of "Narcisse Chassepomp", in fact Pierre-Narcisse Chaspoux, formerly a dancer at the Paris Opera and then in London, who in 1821 gave birth to the artist Charles Meryon.[11] Frances (Fanny) married Henry Broadwood MP (1793–1878, of the piano-making family), and was the mother of Brig-Gen. Arthur Broadwood (1848–1928). With Emilia Cresotti, an Italian opera singer, he fathered Francis William Lowther (1841–1908), who was the father of Claude Lowther MP and Toupie Lowther.[12][13]
He died in his London house at 15 Carlton House Terrace on 4 March 1872, aged 84, and was succeeded in the earldom and to Lowther Castle by his nephew, Henry.[1] On the day he died he waited in his carriage outside a London auction house, while an agent bid on his behalf on some lots of porcelain.[14] Of an estate valued at £700,000 (without the entailed land), Francis William and Fanny were bequeathed £125,000 each, and Francis's son £25,000.[15]
A marble bust of him was sculpted by Edward Bowring Stephens, now in the National Trust collection at Hughenden Manor, Buckinghamshire.
References
- ^ a b c Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 2398. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
- ^ "Lowther, the Hon. William (LWTR805W)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ leighrayment.com House of Commons: Clonmel to Cork County West[usurped]
- ^ leighrayment.com House of Commons: West Lothian to Widnes[usurped]
- ^ leighrayment.com House of Commons: Dumbarton to Dysart Burghs[usurped]
- ^ leighrayment.com House of Commons: Cornwall to Cynon Valley[usurped]
- ^ "No. 18474". The London Gazette. 30 May 1828. p. 1045.
- ^ "No. 21296". The London Gazette. 27 February 1852. p. 633.
- ^ "Lists of Royal Society Fellows". Retrieved 21 December 2006.
- ^ The Life of James Hamilton Stanhope (1788–1825), Mark Guscin, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2021, p. 24
- ^ Collins, 5-6
- ^ Thomas, Seccombe. "Lowther, William, second earl of Lonsdale (1787–1872), politician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/17114. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Grieves, Keith. "Lowther, Claude William Henry (1870–1929), politician and art connoisseur". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/39465. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Collins, 267
- ^ Collins, 267-268
- Collins, Roger, Charles Meryon: A Life, 1999, Garton & Company, ISBN 0906030358, 9780906030356
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Lonsdale
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Cockermouth 1808–1813 With: Sir James Graham, Bt 1808–1812 Sir John Lowther, Bt 1812 Augustus Foster 1812–1813 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by The Lord Muncaster Hon. Henry Lowther | Member of Parliament for Westmorland 1813–1831 With: Hon. Henry Lowther | Succeeded by Hon. Henry Lowther Alexander Nowell |
Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Dunwich 1832 With: Frederick Barne | Constituency abolished |
New constituency | Member of Parliament for West Cumberland 1832–1833 With: Edward Stanley | Succeeded by Samuel Irton Edward Stanley |
Preceded by Hon. Henry Lowther Alexander Nowell | Member of Parliament for Westmorland 1832–1841 With: Hon. Henry Lowther | Succeeded by Hon. Henry Lowther William Thompson |
Political offices | ||
Preceded by | First Commissioner of Woods and Forests 1828–1830 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Treasurer of the Navy 1834–1835 | Succeeded by |
Vice-President of the Board of Trade 1834–1835 | Succeeded by | |
Preceded by | Postmaster General 1841–1845 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Lord President of the Council 1852 | Succeeded by |
Honorary titles | ||
Preceded by | Lord Lieutenant of Cumberland and Westmorland 1844–1868 | Succeeded by |
Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
Preceded by | Earl of Lonsdale 1844–1872 | Succeeded by |
Peerage of Great Britain | ||
Preceded by | Baron Lowther (writ of acceleration) 1841–1872 | Succeeded by |