Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos

The Grenville Armorial produced between 1822 and 1839 for Richard Temple-Grenville, Marquess of Chandos, the son of the 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. The centrepiece of the Gothic Library at Stowe House, it shows 719 quarterings of the family.

Richard Plantagenet Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, KG GCH PC FSA (11 February 1797 – 29 July 1861), styled Viscount Cobham from birth until 1813, Earl Temple between 1813 and 1822 and Marquess of Chandos between 1822 and 1839, was a British Tory politician. He served as Lord Privy Seal between 1841 and 1842.

Two events in his life were remarkable, given the era he lived in and the position he held in society as a duke: firstly, he obtained a divorce at a time when that required an act of parliament; secondly, despite the great wealth to which he was born, he declared bankruptcy with debts of over a million pounds in 1847.

Background and education

Born at Stowe, Buckinghamshire, the Duke of Buckingham was the son of the Earl Temple (later created the 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos) and Lady Anne, daughter of the 3rd Duke of Chandos. He was a paternal grandson of the 1st Marquess of Buckingham and a great-grandson of Prime Minister George Grenville. He was educated at Eton and Oriel College, Oxford.^[1]

Political career

Buckingham sat as Member of Parliament for Buckinghamshire between 1818 and 1839, when he succeeded his father in the dukedom and entered the House of Lords.^[1][2] Two years later, in September 1841, he was sworn of the Privy Council^[3] and appointed Lord Privy Seal^[3] by Sir Robert Peel, a post he held only until February 1842. He was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Hanoverian Order in 1835, elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1840^[1] and made a Knight of the Garter in 1842.^[4]

Personal life

In 1819, Buckingham married Lady Mary, daughter of Lieut-Gen The 4th Earl of Breadalbane (later created Marquess of Breadalbane). They had one son and one daughter, but were divorced in 1850. At that time, divorce required an Act of Parliament.

In 1847, eight years after succeeding his father as Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, George was declared bankrupt with debts over a million pounds.^[1][5] This occasioned the auction sale of the contents of Stowe House in August–September 1848, one of the handful of most prominent English country house contents auctions of the 19th century.

Buckingham died at the Great Western Hotel, Paddington, London, in July 1861, aged 64, and was succeeded in the dukedom by his only son, Richard. His sometime wife died less than a year later in June 1862, aged 66.^[1]

References

Bibliography

• Spring, David & Spring, Eileen (1956). "The Fall of the Grenvilles, 1844-1848". Huntington Library Quarterly. 19 (2): 165–190. doi:10.2307/3816224. Retrieved 26 March 2012. 

External links

• Memoirs of the Court and Cabinets of George the Third, Volume 1 (of 2)
• Memoirs of the Court and Cabinets of George the Third, Volume 2 (of 2)
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos
• Portraits of Richard Grenville, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos at the National Portrait Gallery, London
  
• "Archival material relating to Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos". UK National Archives.