Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond

Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond, 6th Duke of Lennox, 1st Duke of Gordon, KG, PC (27 February 1818 – 27 September 1903), styled the Earl of March until 1860, was a British Conservative politician.

His Grace The Duke of Richmond KG PC
The Duke of Richmond, 1883
President of the Board of Trade
In office 24 June 1885 – 19 August 1885
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	The Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded by	Joseph Chamberlain
Succeeded by	Hon. Edward Stanhope
In office 8 March 1867 – 1 December 1868
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	The Earl of Derby Benjamin Disraeli
Preceded by	Sir Stafford Northcote, Bt
Succeeded by	John Bright
Leader of the House of Lords
In office 21 February 1874 – 21 August 1876
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	Benjamin Disraeli
Preceded by	The Earl Granville
Succeeded by	The Earl of Beaconsfield
Lord President of the Council
In office 21 February 1874 – 28 April 1880
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	Benjamin Disraeli
Preceded by	The Lord Aberdare
Succeeded by	The Earl Spencer
President of the Poor Law Board
In office 7 March 1859 – 11 June 1859
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	The Earl of Derby
Preceded by	Thomas Sotheron-Estcourt
Succeeded by	Charles Pelham Villiers
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office 22 October 1860 – 27 September 1903
Preceded by	The 5th Duke of Richmond
Succeeded by	The 7th Duke of Richmond
Member of Parliament for West Sussex
In office 22 July 1841 – 21 October 1860
Preceded by	Lord John Lennox
Succeeded by	Sir Walter Barttelot
Personal details
Born	Charles Henry Lennox 27 February 1818 Richmond House, London
Died	27 September 1903(1903-09-27) (aged 85) Gordon Castle, Morayshire
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Frances Harriett Greville
Children	6, including Charles and Walter
Parent(s)	Charles Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond Lady Caroline Paget
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford

Background and education

Goodwood House, West Sussex, England (seat of Duke of Richmond)

Born at Richmond House, London, he was the son of Charles Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond, and his wife Lady Caroline Paget, daughter of Field Marshal Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey. He was educated at Westminster and Christ Church, Oxford, where he had a short career as a cricketer. He served in the Royal Horse Guards and was aide-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington. Charles was born with the surname Lennox; when his father inherited the Gordon estates from his uncle, the father took the surname Gordon-Lennox for himself and his issue, by royal licence dated 9 August 1836.^[1]

He owned 286,000 acres mostly in Banff, Aberdeen and Inverness. His Sussex holdings were 17,000 acres. By 1883, he had an income of £80,000 a year.^[2]

Political career

"Highly respectable". Caricature by ATn published in Vanity Fair in 1870.

March entered politics as member for West Sussex in 1841. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1859. In 1860, he succeeded his father as Duke of Richmond and entered the House of Lords. He chaired the Royal Commission on Capital Punishment, which reported in 1866, and the Royal Commission on Water Supply in 1869, which concluded that there was a need for some sort of overall planning of water supplies for domestic use.^[3]

He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1867, and filled various positions in government in the Conservative administrations of the Earl of Derby, Disraeli and the marquess of Salisbury.^[4] In 1876 he was rewarded for his public service by being created Duke of Gordon and Earl of Kinrara in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.^[5] He was also Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen from 1861 until his death at Gordon Castle in 1903.

Family

49 Belgrave Square, his London house

Richmond married Frances Harriett Greville, daughter of Algernon Greville, on 28 November 1843. They had six children:

• Lady Caroline Gordon-Lennox (12 October 1844 – 2 November 1934), who acted as châtelaine of Goodwood after her mother's death in 1887. She died unmarried in 1934.^[6]
• Charles Gordon-Lennox, 7th Duke of Richmond (1845–1928)
• Lord Algernon Charles Gordon-Lennox (19 September 1847 – 3 October 1921), married Blanche Maynard and had issue one daughter, Ivy Gordon-Lennox (16 June 1887 – 3 March 1982), who m. William Cavendish-Bentinck, 7th Duke of Portland.
• Captain Lord Francis Charles Gordon-Lennox (30 July 1849 – 1 January 1886), died unmarried
• Lady Florence Gordon-Lennox (21 June 1851 – 21 July 1895), died unmarried
• Lord Walter Charles Gordon-Lennox (29 July 1865 – 21 October 1922), married Alice Ogilvy-Grant and had issue

Ancestry

Ancestors of Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond

8. Lord George Lennox 4. Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond 9. Lady Louisa Kerr 2. Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond 10. Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon 5. Lady Charlotte Gordon 11. Jane Maxwell 1. Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond 12. Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge 6. Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey 13. Jane Champagné 3. Lady Caroline Paget 14. George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey 7. Lady Caroline Elizabeth Villiers 15. Frances Twysden