Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry

The Most Honourable The Marquess of Londonderry KG GCB GCH PC
Portrait in hussar uniform
Minister to Prussia
In office 1813–1814
Monarch	George III
Preceded by	No representation
Succeeded by	George Henry Rose
Ambassador to Austria
In office 1814–1823
Monarch	George III George IV
Preceded by	The Earl of Aberdeen
Succeeded by	Hon. Sir Henry Wellesley
Personal details
Born	Charles William Stewart (1778-05-18)18 May 1778 Dublin, Kingdom of Ireland
Died	6 March 1854(1854-03-06) (aged 75) Londonderry House, Park Lane, London
Nationality	Irish
Spouse(s)	Lady Catherine Bligh (d. 1812) Lady Frances Anne Vane-Tempest (d. 1865)
Children	Frederick Stewart, 4th Marquess George Vane-Tempest, 5th Marquess, among others
Parents	Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry Lady Frances Pratt

Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, KG, GCB, GCH, PC (born Charles William Stewart; 1778–1854), was an Irish soldier in the British army, a politician, and a nobleman. As a soldier he fought in the French Revolutionary Wars, in the suppression of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and in the Napoleonic wars. He excelled as a cavalry commander on the Iberian Peninsula under John Moore and Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington).

Having been dismissed by Wellington, his half-brother Lord Castlereagh helped him to launch a diplomatic career. He was posted to Berlin in 1813, and then as Ambassador to Austria, where his half-brother was the British plenipotentiary at the Congress of Vienna.

He married Lady Catherine Bligh in 1804 and then, in 1819, Lady Frances Anne Vane, a rich heiress, changing his surname to hers, thus being called Charles Vane instead of Charles Stewart from there on. He succeeded his half-brother as 3rd Marquess of Londonderry in 1822. He developed coal mines on his wife's land in County Durham.

Birth and origins[]

Charles was born on 18 May 1778 in Dublin^[1] as the second of the 11 children of Robert Stewart and his second wife Frances Pratt. His father's family was Ulster-Scots and Presbyterian. His father was a rich man, a member of the Irish landed gentry and a member of the Irish House of Commons for Down but not yet a nobleman. Charles's mother was English, a daughter of Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, a leading English jurist. His parents married on 7 June 1775.^[2] Charles was brought up as an Anglican, a member of the Church of Ireland.^[3]

Charles had a half-brother from his father's first marriage:

• Robert (1769–1822), known as "Castlereagh", became a famous statesman.

Early life[]

In 1789, when he was 11, his father, Robert Stewart, was created Baron Londonderry.^[9]

On 3 April 1791, at the age of 12, Charles Stewart entered the British Army as ensign in the 108th Regiment. He was commissioned a lieutenant on 8 January 1793 in this same unit.^[10] He saw service in 1794 in the Flanders Campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars.^{[citation needed]}

He was lieutenant-colonel of the 5th Royal Irish Dragoons by the time he helped put down the Irish Rebellion of 1798. In 1803, Stewart was appointed aide-de-camp to King George III.^{[citation needed]}

In 1795 his father was created Viscount Castlereagh^[11] and in 1796 Marquess of Londonderry in the Irish peerage.^[12]

In 1800, Charles Stewart was elected to the Irish House of Commons as member of parliament for Thomastown borough, County Kilkenny, in place of George Dunbar,^[13] and after only two months exchanged this seat for that of Londonderry County,^[14] being replaced at Thomastown by John Cradock.^[15] After the abolition of the Irish Parliament with the Act of Union in 1801, the Irish constituency of Londonderry County became the Londonderry constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and he joined the Parliament 1798–1802 sitting at Westminster until its dissolution on 29 June 1802.^[16] In July and August 1802 Stewart was re-elected for Londonderry County in the first general election of the United Kingdom and sat until the parliament's dissolution in 1806.^[17] He was reelected in the 1806 United Kingdom general election and sat until 1807.^[18] In 1807 Charles Stewart became Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. He was also re-elected in the 1807 United Kingdom general election^[19] and sat until the parliament's dissolution on 29 September 1812. He was finally re-elected in the 1812 United Kingdom general election^[20] and sat until 19 July 1814 when he was summoned to the House of Lords. He was replaced as MP for Londonderry by his uncle Alexander Stewart of Ards. In all these terms as MP he supported the Tory interest.^{[citation needed]}

First marriage and son[]

On 8 August 1804 at the church of St George's, Hanover Square, London, Charles Stewart married Lady Catherine Bligh.^[23][24] She was the 4th and youngest daughter of the 3rd Earl of Darnley. She was three years older than he. On 7 July 1805 the couple had a son, named Frederick, who was to become the 4th Marquess of Londonderry.^[25] She died during the night of 10–11 February 1812, of fever following a minor operation, while her husband was on his way home from Spain.^[26]

Son by Catherine Bligh:

1. Frederick William Robert Stewart, 4th Marquess of Londonderry (1805–1872)^[27]

Peninsular War[]

The remainder of his military career developed during the Napoleonic Wars, more exactly in the Peninsular War.

Corunna[]

The war started with the Corunna Campaign (1808–1809), in which the British troops were commanded by Sir John Moore. In this campaign Charles Stewart commanded a brigade of cavalry, and played, together with Lord Paget, a prominent role in the cavalry clash of Benavente where the French General Lefebvre-Desnouettes was taken prisoner.^[28][29] He suffered from ophthalmia during the latter stages of the retreat.^[30] Moore sent him back to London carrying dispatches for Castlereagh and other leading figures^[31] and he missed the climactic battle where British forces successfully managed to evacuate in the face of Marshal Soult's army at which Moore was killed in action.^{[citation needed]}

Wellesley's Spanish campaign[]

When British troops returned to the Iberian Peninsula after the Corunna Campaign, they were commanded by Sir Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington). Charles Stewart was appointed, in April 1809, Adjutant General to Wellesley. This was an administrative job and not much to his liking, especially as Wellesley never discussed his decisions with subordinates.^[32] Nevertheless, he sometimes managed to see action and distinguished himself, particularly at the battle of Talavera (July 1809) for which he received the thanks of the Parliament on 2 February 1810 when he returned to England on sick leave.^[33] He also excelled at Bussaco in September 1810 and at Fuentes de Oñoro (May 1811) where he took a French Colonel prisoner in single combat.^[34]

He resigned his position as Adjutant General in February 1812. Some say due to bad health,^[35][36] but others say that Wellington fired him. Wellington apparently appreciated him as a soldier but judged him a "sad brouillon and mischief-maker" among his staff.^[37]

On 30 January 1813 he became a Knight Companion of the Bath,^[38] which made him Sir Charles Stewart. On 20 November 1813, he was made Colonel of the 25th Light Dragoons, an honorary position.^{[citation needed]}

Coat of arms as Marquess of Londonderry. The shield is quartered with his second wife's arms, the Vane's three gauntlets.

Diplomatic career[]

His half-brother Robert had made a brilliant diplomatic and political career. Charles and his half-brother remained lifelong friends and wrote each other many letters. Robert helped Charles to start a diplomatic career.

Berlin[]

From May 1813 until the end of the war, Sir Charles was Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Berlin,^[39] and was also Military Commissioner with the allied armies, being wounded at the Battle of Kulm in August 1813.^{[citation needed]}

Vienna[]

In 1814 he was also appointed Ambassador to Austria, a post he held for nine years (1814–1823). On 18 June 1814, to make him more acceptable in Vienna, Stewart was ennobled as Baron Stewart, of Stewart's Court and Ballylawn in County Donegal, by the Prince Regent.^[40] In the same year, he received honorary degrees from Oxford and Cambridge, was admitted to the Privy Council, and was appointed a Lord of the Bedchamber to the King.^{[citation needed]}

Lord Stewart, as he now was, attended the Congress of Vienna with his half-brother Lord Castlereagh as one of the British plenipotentiaries. He was not well regarded as he made a spectacle of himself with his loutish behaviour, was apparently rather often inebriated, frequented prostitutes quite openly.^[41] He earned himself the sobriquet of Lord Pumpernickel after a loutish character in a play in fashion.^[42]

Lady Frances Anne Tempest, daughter and heiress of Sir Henry Vane-Tempest, 2nd Baronet

Second marriage and children[]

Before the end of his diplomatic career Lord Stewart had, on 3 April 1819, married his second wife, Lady Frances Anne Vane-Tempest, daughter and heiress of Sir Henry Vane-Tempest,^[43] at her mother's house in Bruton Street, Mayfair, and took her surname of Vane, by Royal licence, as had been stipulated in her father's will.^[44] He was henceforth known as Charles William Vane, whereas his son out of his first marriage stayed Frederick Stewart.^{[citation needed]}

Children by Frances Anne Emily Vane-Tempest:^{[citation needed]}

1. George Henry Robert Charles William Vane-Tempest, 5th Marquess of Londonderry (1821–1884)
2. Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane (1822–1899); married John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough.
3. Lady Alexandrina Octavia Maria Vane (1823–1874), godchild of Alexander I of Russia; married Henry Dawson-Damer, 3rd Earl of Portarlington.
4. Lord Adolphus Frederick Charles William Vane-Tempest (1825–1864), politician; became insane, and had to be medically restrained.
5. Lady Adelaide Emelina Caroline Vane (c. 1830–1882); disgraced the family by eloping with her brother's tutor, Rev. Frederick Henry Law.
6. Lord Ernest McDonnell Vane-Tempest (1836–1885), fell in with a press-gang and had to be bought a commission in the army, from which he was subsequently cashiered.

Through his daughter Lady Frances, Lord Londonderry is a great-grandfather of Winston Churchill.^{[citation needed]}

Castlereagh's suicide[]

On 12 August 1822, his half-brother committed suicide.^[45] He succeeded his half-brother as 3rd Marquess of Londonderry in 1822. The following year Lord Londonderry was also created Earl Vane and Viscount Seaham, of Seaham in the County Palatine of Durham, with remainder to the heirs male of the body of his second wife.^[46]

His half-brother's death also meant the end of his diplomatic career. He quit the diplomatic service in 1823. Queen Victoria had a low esteem of Londonderry's abilities as a civil servant. She said that he should, in her opinion, not be given any post of importance.^[47]

Wynyard Park, c.1880

Residences[]

Lord Londonderry used his new bride's immense wealth to acquire the Seaham Hall estate in County Durham, developing the coalfields there. He also built the harbour at Seaham, to rival nearby Sunderland. He commissioned Benjamin Wyatt to build a mansion at Wynyard Park. It was completed by Philip Wyatt in 1841 and cost £130,000 (equivalent to £10,772,000 in 2016) to build and furnish. Unfortunately, just as the mansion was being completed, a fire broke out and gutted the house; it was later restored and remodelled by Ignatius Bonomi.^{[citation needed]}

The family also used their newfound wealth to redecorate their country seat in Ireland, Mount Stewart, and bought Holdernesse House on London's Park Lane, which they renamed Londonderry House.^{[citation needed]}

Industrialist and landlord[]

Mines and Collieries Act[]

Londonderry led the opposition to the Mines and Collieries Act of 1842 in the House of Lords. He is reported to have raged madly against any attempt to deny the collieries the use of child labour.^[48][49] Speaking on behalf of the Yorkshire Coal-Owners Association, Londonderry said "With respect to the age at which males should be admitted into mines, the members of this association have unanimously agreed to fix it at eight years... In the thin coal mines it is more especially requisite that boys, varying in age from eight to fourteen, should be employed; as the underground roads could not be made of sufficient height for taller persons without incurring an outlay so great as to render the working of such mines unprofitable".^{[citation needed]}

Irish famine[]

By the time of the outbreak of the Great Irish Famine in 1845, Londonderry was one of the ten richest men in the United Kingdom. While many landlords made efforts to mitigate the worst effects of the famine on their tenants, Londonderry was criticised for meanness: he and his wife gave only £30 to the local relief committee but spent £150,000 (£13.6 million as of 2021) renovating Mount Stewart, their Irish home.^[50] Nevertheless, Debbie Orme maintains that "the Marquis was held in high regard in the land for his attempts to alleviate suffering during the potato famine".^[51] During the tenant right campaign of the early 1850s Londonderry insisted on his full rights and this alienated many of his tenants.^[52] He was in disagreement over this question with his son and heir Frederick, who was more liberally inclined.

Portrait as Knight of the Garter

Napoleon and Abd-el-Kader[]

Back in England, Londonderry befriended Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (later Napoleon III) while the latter was exiled in London between 1836 and 1840. After Bonaparte had been elected president of France in 1851, Londonderry asked him to free Abd-el-Kader.^[53]

Late honours[]

Governor of County Londonderry from 1823, Londonderry was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Durham in 1842 and the following year became Colonel of the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards. When Wellington, whom he admired greatly, died in 1852, his place as Knight of the Garter was given to Londonderry,^[54] who was officially invested on 19 June 1853.^[55]

Memorial statue by Raffaelle Monti in Durham

Death, succession, and timeline[]

He died on 6 March 1854 at Londonderry House and was buried in , County Durham.^[56] His widow honoured him by the Londonderry Equestrian Statue in Durham.^[57] His son Frederick built Scrabo Tower near Newtownards as a monument to the memory of his father.

He was succeeded as Marquess of Londonderry by his eldest son, Frederick Stewart, the only child from his first marriage, and as Earl Vane by George Vane, the eldest son from his second marriage. At Charles's death Frederick, therefore, became the 4th Marquess of Londonderry, whereas George became the 2nd Earl Vane. George was later to become the 5th Marquess after his half-brother had died childless.^{[citation needed]}

Styles[]

Charles was styled:

1. The Honourable Charles Stewart from 1789 until 1813 (because his father was created Baron Londonderry in 1789),
2. The Honourable Sir Charles Stewart from 1813 to 1814 (because he was made a Knight of the Bath),
3. The Right Honourable The Lord Stewart from 1814 to 1822 (because he was made a baron in his own right)
4. The Most Honourable The Marquess of Londonderry.

Works[]

The 3rd Marquess was a prolific writer and editor. He wrote and published books about his own military and diplomatic career and published many of his half-brother's papers.

War memoirs[]

The following two books describe the Napoleonic War as he saw them happen. The first describes his experience of the Peninsular War. The second the War of the Sixth Coalition, which forced Napoleon to abdicate:

• Narrative of the Peninsular War (London: Henry Colburn, 1828) online at Internet Archive
• Narrative of the War in Germany and France: In 1813 and 1814 (London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1830) online at Internet Archive

Castlereagh papers[]

The 3rd Marquess also compiled, edited, and published many of the papers left by his half-brother and published them in the following twelve volumes, divided in three series.

The first series, consisting of four volumes, numbered 1 – 4, appeared in 1848 and 1849 under the title Memoirs and Correspondence. The volumes are not marked "first series on the title pages. They are:

• Memoirs and Correspondence of Viscount Castlereagh, Second Marquess of Londonderry, Volume 1 (London: Henry Colburn, 1848) online at Internet Archive - The Irish Rebellion
• Memoirs and Correspondence of Viscount Castlereagh, Second Marquess of Londonderry, Volume 2 (London: Henry Colburn, 1848) online at Internet Archive - Arrangements for a Union
• Memoirs and Correspondence of Viscount Castlereagh, Second Marquess of Londonderry, Volume 3 (London: Henry Colburn, 1849) online at Internet Archive - Completion of the Legislative Union
• Memoirs and Correspondence of Viscount Castlereagh, Second Marquess of Londonderry, Volume 4 (London, Henry Colburn, 1849) online at Internet Archive - Concessions to Catholics and Dissenters: Emmett's Insurrection

The second series, consisting of four volumes, appeared in 1851 under the title Correspondence, Despatches and Other Papers. The volume numbers continue, despite being marked "2nd series" and are therefore 4 to 8. They are:

• Correspondence Despatches and Other Papers of Viscount Castlereagh, Second Marquess of Londonderry, Series 2, Volume 5 (London: William Shoberl, 1851) online at Internet Archive - Military and Miscellaneous
• Correspondence Despatches and Other Papers of Viscount Castlereagh, Second Marquess of Londonderry, Series 2, Volume 6 (London: William Shoberl, 1851) online at Internet Archive - Military and Miscellaneous
• Correspondence Despatches and Other Papers of Viscount Castlereagh, Second Marquess of Londonderry, Series 2, Volume 7 (London: William Shoberl, 1851) online at Internet Archive - Military and Miscellaneous
• Correspondence Despatches and Other Papers of Viscount Castlereagh, Second Marquess of Londonderry, Series 2, Volume 8 (London: William Shoberl, 1851) online at Internet Archive - Military and Miscellaneous

The third series appeared in 1853. The four volumes have the same title as the second series. The volume numbering is irregular. They are:

• Correspondence Despatches and Other Papers of Viscount Castlereagh, Second Marquess of Londonderry, Volume 9 (London: John Murray, 1853) online at Internet Archive - Military and Diplomatic
• Correspondence Despatches and Other Papers of Viscount Castlereagh, Second Marquess of Londonderry, Volume 11 (London: John Murray, 1853) online at Hathi Trust
• Correspondence Despatches and Other Papers of Viscount Castlereagh, Second Marquess of Londonderry, Series 3, Volume 3 (London: John Murray, 1853) online at Internet Archive - Military and Diplomatic
• Correspondence Despatches and Other Papers of Viscount Castlereagh, Second Marquess of Londonderry, Volume 12 (London: John Murray, 1853) online at Internet Archive

See also[]

• Marquess of Londonderry – for his title
• Earl Camden – for his maternal grandfather's title
• Vane-Tempest baronets – for the title of his father-in-law Sir Henry Vane-Tempest

Notes, citations, and sources[]

Notes[]

Citations[]

Sources[]

• Alison, Archibald (1861a). Lives of Lord Castlereagh and Sir Charles Stewart the second and the third Marquesses of Londonderry. 1. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons. OCLC 456774545.
• Alison, Archibald (1861b). Lives of Lord Castlereagh and Sir Charles Stewart the second and the third Marquesses of Londonderry. 3. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons. OCLC 456774545.
• Burke, Bernard (1869). A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire (31st ed.). London: Harrison. OCLC 1045624502.
• Burke, Bernard; Burke, Ashworth P. (1909). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage, the Privy Council, Knightage and Companionage (71st ed.). London: Harrison. OCLC 28297274.
• Burke, Bernard (1949). A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire (99th ed.). London: Burke's Peerage Ltd.
• Cobden, John C. (1853). The White Slaves of England. Auburn [N.Y.] and Buffalo: Miller, Orton and Maulligan. OCLC 697840371.
• Cokayne, George Edward (1893). The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant. 5 (1st ed.). London: George Bell and Sons. OCLC 1180836840. – L to M
• Debrett, John (1838). Courthope, William (ed.). Debrett's Complete Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (22nd ed.). London: F. C. and J. Rivington. OCLC 315551200. (later events)
• Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I., eds. (1986). Handbook of British Chronology. Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks, No. 2 (3rd ed.). London: Offices of the Royal Historical Society. ISBN 0-86193-106-8. (for timeline)
• House of Commons (1878). Return. Members of Parliament – Part II. Parliaments of Great Britain, 1705–1796. Parliaments of the United Kingdom, 1801–1874. Parliaments and Conventions of the Estates of Scotland, 1357–1707. Parliaments of Ireland, 1599–1800. London: H. M. Stationery Office. OCLC 13112546.
• Hugo, Abel (1838). France militaire: histoire des armées françaises de terre et de mer de 1792 à 1837 (in French). 4. Paris: Delloye. OCLC 23429738.
• Jennings, Louis J. (1885). The Croker Papers. The correspondence and Diary of the Late Right Honourable John Wilson Croker LL.D., FRS, Secretary to the Admiralty from 1809 to 1830. London: John Murray. OCLC 1042993826.
• Kinealy, Christine (2013). Charity and the Great Hunger in Ireland: The Kindness of the Strangers. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4411-1758-8.
• Kornitzer, Margaret (1952). Child Adoption in the Modern World. New York: Putnam. ISBN 978-0-8022-0885-9.
• Lloyd, Ernest Marsh (1898). "Stewart, Charles William third Marquis of Londonderry". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. 54. London: Smith, Elder, & Co. pp. 278–281. OCLC 8544105.
• Lloyd, Ernest Marsh; Heesom, A. J. (2004). "Vane, Charles William, third marquess of Londonderry (1778–1854)". In Matthew, Colin; Harrison, Brian (eds.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 56. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 95–98. ISBN 0-19-861406-3.
• Oman, Charles (1913). Wellington's Army, 1809-1814. New York: Longmans, Green, and Co. OCLC 1158335402.
• Urquhart, Diane (2007). The Ladies of Londonderry: Women and Political Patronage. London: I. B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84511-410-7.
• Vane, Charles William (1828). Narrative of the Peninsular War from 1808 to 1813. London: Henry Colburn. OCLC 755719969.
• Zamoyski, Adam (2007). Rites of Peace, the Fall of Napoleon & the Congress of Vienna. London: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-06-077518-6.

External links[]

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Marquess of Londonderry

Wikisource has the text of the 1885–1900 Dictionary of National Biography's article about Stewart, Charles William.