Orlando Bridgeman, 3rd Earl of Bradford

For other people named Orlando Bridgeman, see Orlando Bridgeman (disambiguation).

Orlando George Charles Bridgeman, 3rd Earl of Bradford, PC, DL (24 April 1819 – 12 March 1898), styled Viscount Newport between 1825 and 1865, was a British courtier and Conservative politician. In a ministerial career spanning over thirty years, he notably served as Lord Chamberlain of the Household between 1866 and 1868 and as Master of the Horse between 1874 and 1880 and again between 1885 and 1886.

The Right Honourable The Earl of Bradford PC DL
Master of the Horse
In office 7 March 1874 – 21 April 1880
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	Benjamin Disraeli
Preceded by	The Marquess of Ailesbury
Succeeded by	The Duke of Westminster
In office 1 July 1885 – 28 January 1886
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	The Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded by	The Duke of Westminster
Succeeded by	The Earl of Cork
Personal details
Born	(1819-04-24)24 April 1819 Nottingham Place, Marylebone, London, England
Died	12 March 1898(1898-03-12) (aged 78) Weston Park, Staffordshire, England
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Hon. Selina Weld-Forester (d. 1894)
Children	4
Parent(s)	George Bridgeman, 2nd Earl of Bradford Georgina Moncreiffe
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge

Background and education

Bridgeman was born at Nottingham Place, Marylebone, London, the eldest son of George Bridgeman, 2nd Earl of Bradford, and his wife Georgina Elizabeth Moncreiffe, daughter of Sir Thomas Moncreiffe, 5th Baronet. He was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge.^[1] He became known by the courtesy title Viscount Newport when his father succeeded in the earldom of Bradford in 1825 when he also inherited 21,000 acres across England.^[2]

Political career

Lord Newport was elected Member of Parliament for Shropshire South in 1842. In February 1852, he was appointed Vice-Chamberlain of the Household in Lord Derby's first administration,^[3] a post he held until the fall of the government in December of the same year,^[4] and again from 1858^[5] to 1859 in Derby's second administration.^[6] He was admitted to the Privy Council in 1852.^[7] In 1865, he succeeded his father in the earldom and entered the House of Lords. When Derby became prime minister for the third time in 1866, Lord Bradford was made Lord Chamberlain of the Household,^[8] an office he retained until December 1868, the last year under the premiership of Benjamin Disraeli.^[9] He again served under Disraeli as Master of the Horse between 1874^[10] and 1880 and held the same office from 1885^[11] to 1886 in Lord Salisbury's first administration.

Apart from his political career, Lord Bradford was a Deputy Lieutenant of Staffordshire^[12] and served as Lord-Lieutenant of Shropshire between 1875 and 1896. He served in the North Shropshire Yeomanry Cavalry, beginning as cornet in 1839, promoted captain in 1844, and resigning in 1869.^[13] He was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 1st Volunteer Battalion of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry on 20 March 1878.^[14]

Sport interests

Lord Bradford was a Thoroughbred racehorse owner, with colours of white, scarlet sleeves, and a black cap borne by his jockeys. He won the Cesarewitch at Newmarket in 1865 with Salpinctes and, in 1879, with Chippendale who came second in two successive races for the same cup. He ultimately won the 1892 Derby with Sir Hugo.^[15]

Invited by William Penny Brookes, he was President of the Wenlock Olympian Society in 1874, when Much Wenlock hosted the National Olympian Games.^[16]

Family

Selina, the Countess of Bradford, by Edward Clifford, 1876

Lord Bradford married the Honourable Selina Weld-Forester, daughter of Cecil Weld-Forester, 1st Baron Forester, on 10 April 1844.^[17] They had four children:

• Lady Mabel Selina Bridgeman (d. 1933), married Colonel William Kenyon-Slaney on 22 February 1887.
• Lady Florence Katharine Bridgeman (1859–1943), married the 5th Earl of Harewood on 5 November 1881.
• George Cecil Orlando Bridgeman, 4th Earl of Bradford (1845–1915).
• Brigadier Hon. Francis Charles Bridgeman (1846–1917).

The Countess was noted for "intelligence, gaiety and sympathy".^[18] Benjamin Disraeli was deeply attached to both Lady Bradford and her sister Anne, Countess of Chesterfield. After his wife's death in 1872, his feelings seem to have become even warmer and it has been suggested that he would have proposed marriage had Lady Bradford been free to marry.^[19]

The Countess of Bradford died in November 1894. Lord Bradford died after a long illness at Weston Park, Staffordshire, in March 1898, aged 78. He was buried on 12 March 1898 at Weston-under-Lizard. His eldest son George succeeded in the earldom.

References

1. "Bridgeman, Orlando George Charles, Viscount Newport (BRGN837OG)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
2. The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland
3. "No. 21299". The London Gazette. 9 March 1852. p. 741.
4. "No. 21397". The London Gazette. 31 December 1852. p. 3939.
5. "No. 22106". The London Gazette. 2 March 1858. p. 1207.
6. "No. 22279". The London Gazette. 24 June 1859. p. 2471.
7. "No. 21299". The London Gazette. 9 March 1852. p. 738.
8. "No. 23137". The London Gazette. 13 July 1866. p. 3984.
9. "No. 23450". The London Gazette. 15 December 1868. p. 6654.
10. "No. 24074". The London Gazette. 10 March 1874. p. 1591.
11. "No. 25486". The London Gazette. 3 July 1885. p. 3060.
12. "No. 21377". The London Gazette. 9 November 1852. p. 2941.
13. Gladstone, E. W. (1953). The Shropshire Yeomanry 1795–1945, The Story of a Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. The Whitethorn Press. pp. 42, 45, 51.
14. Army List.
15. Weyman, Henry T. (1929). "Shropshire M.P.s – Memoirs". Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological Society, Series 4, Volume XII. p. 35.
16. Beale, Catherine (2011). Born out of Wenlock, William Penny Brookes and the British origins of the modern Olympics. DB Publishing. pp. 87–89, 184. ISBN 978-1-85983-967-6.
17. Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (23 September 2004). "Selina Bridgeman". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. ref:odnb/50250. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/50250. Retrieved 29 March 2023. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
18. Pearson, Hesketh Dizzy- the life and personality of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield Harper Collins New York 1951 243
19. Pearson p,243

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Orlando Bridgeman, 3rd Earl of Bradford

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Earl of Darlington Robert Clive	Members of Parliament for South Shropshire 1842–1865 With: Robert Clive 1842–1854 Robert Windsor-Clive 1854–1859 Sir Baldwin Leighton, Bt 1859–1865	Succeeded by Sir Baldwin Leighton, Bt Sir Percy Egerton Herbert
Political offices
Preceded by Lord Edward Howard	Vice-Chamberlain of the Household February–December 1852	Succeeded by Lord Ernest Bruce
Preceded by Lord Ernest Bruce	Vice-Chamberlain of the Household 1858–1859	Succeeded by Viscount Castlerosse
Preceded by The Viscount Sydney	Lord Chamberlain 1866–1868	Succeeded by The Viscount Sydney
Preceded by The Marquess of Ailesbury	Master of the Horse 1874–1880	Succeeded by The Duke of Westminster
Preceded by The Duke of Westminster	Master of the Horse 1885–1886	Succeeded by The Earl of Cork
Honorary titles
Preceded by The Viscount Hill	Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire 1875–1896	Succeeded by The Earl of Powis
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by George Bridgeman	Earl of Bradford 1865–1898	Succeeded by George Bridgeman