Charles Robert Spencer (1857 - 1922)

Born 30 Oct 1857 in St James, London. England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret (Baring) Spencer — married 25 Jul 1887 in England

Descendants

Died 26 Sep 1922 at age 64 in St. James Place, London, Middlesex, England, UK

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Charles Spencer was a member of the aristocracy in British Isles.

Biography

Charles Robert Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer, KG, GCVO, PC, VRD was a British Liberal Party politician.

He was born in 1857 in the parish of St. James's, Westminster and was the son of the 4th Earl Spencer and his second wife Adelaide Beauchamp Seymour. He was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge. On 23 July 1887, he married Margaret Baring the daughter of the 1st Baron Revelstoke at St James's Church, Piccadilly.

The couple had six children: Lady Adelaide Margaret Delia Spencer (1889–1981) Albert Edward John Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer (1892–1975), the grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales. Lt.-Cdr. Hon. Cecil Edward Robert Spencer RN DSC Croix de guerre (1894–1928), died unmarried in a riding accident. Lady Lavinia Emily Spencer (1899–1955). Captain Hon. George Charles Spencer (1903–1982). Lady (Alexandra) Margaret Elizabeth Spencer (1906–1996) She was the author of "A Spencer Childhood", published in 1994.

Spencer represented the constituency of North Northamptonshire from 1880 to 1885 and Mid Northamptonshire from 1885 to 1895 and again from 1900 to 1905. He was a Groom-in-Waiting to Queen Victoria between February and June 1886, Vice-Chamberlain of the Household from 1892 to 1895 and a Privy Councilor from 1892. On 19 December 1905, he was created 1st Viscount Althorp which allowed him to become Lord Chamberlain (his older brother was still Earl Spencer at that time). From 1908 he was Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire.

On 13 August 1910, he became the 6th Earl Spencer.

He died at his home in St James Place, London and is buried in St Mary the Virgin with St John Churchyard, Great Brington, Daventry District, Northamptonshire, England ^[1] .

He held a large number of foreign decorations: the Grand Cross of Order of the Dannebrog of Denmark, Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav, Order of the Polar Star of Sweden, Order of the Rising Sun of Japan, the White Eagle of Serbia, Order of the Red Eagle of Prussia, Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Carlos III and Order of Philippe le Bon of France. He was also an honorary major and later honorary colonel of the 4th Volunteer Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment.

Styles 1857–1880: The Hon. Charles Spencer 1880–1892: The Hon. Charles Spencer, MP 1892–1895: The Rt. Hon. Charles Spencer, MP 1895–1900: The Rt. Hon. Charles Spencer 1900–1905: The Rt. Hon. Charles Spencer, MP 1905–1910: The Rt. Hon. Viscount Althorp, PC 1910–1922: The Rt. Hon. The Earl Spencer, PC

Article in the "Northampton Chronicle & Echo" 1922.

"A Crystal on a Cross The devotion of the late Earl Spencer (Charles Robert, the 6th Earl) to his late wife (Margaret, Viscountess Althorp) was as everyone who knew him realised, a very beautiful and touching thing. He rarely made a speech in Northampton without referring to his "happy Dallington days" and to the gracious lady on whom their happiness depended. Upon the cross, which marked her resting place, and which now rises above them both, he placed a many faceted crystal ball and every sunny day he spent at Althorp he would watch for the light that flashed like a message from his wife's grave to his house, a mile away. In various parts of the Park mounds were raised at his request that he might better see the light, and for miles around one could watch the sunlight reflected in brilliant flashes of light from the crystal. He will watch for the message no more, but one likes to think that he was happy to rest at last beside the wife he had loved so well and whose memory he had cherished so dearly for sixteen years."

Charles Robert Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer, KG, GCVO, PC, VRD (30 October 1857 – 26 September 1922), styled The Honourable Charles Spencer until 1905 and known as The Viscount Althorp between 1905 and 1910, was a British courtier and Liberal politician from the Spencer family. An MP from 1880 to 1895 and again from 1900 to 1905, he served as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household from 1892 to 1895. Ennobled as Viscount Althorp in 1905, he was Lord Chamberlain from 1905 to 1912 in the Liberal administrations headed by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and H. H. Asquith. In 1910 he succeeded his half-brother in the earldom of Spencer.

Lord Spencer married the Hon. Margaret Baring (14 December 1868 – 4 July 1906), daughter of Edward Baring, 1st Baron Revelstoke, at St James's Church, Piccadilly, on 23 July 1887. They had six children:

1. Lady Adelaide Margaret Delia Spencer (1889–1981), married Sir Sidney Peel, 1st Baronet and had issue.
2. Albert Edward John Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer (1892–1975), the grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales.
3. Lieutenant commander Hon. Cecil Edward Robert Spencer RN DSC Croix de guerre (1894–1928), died unmarried in a riding accident.
4. Lady Lavinia Emily Spencer [14] (1899–1955), married the 4th Baron Annaly and had issue. Lady Annaly was an extra Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother when she was Duchess of York.
5. Captain Hon. George Charles Spencer (1903–1982), married (1) Barbara Blumenthal and had issue, married (2) Kathleen Henderson; no issue.
6. Lady (Alexandra) Margaret Elizabeth Spencer (1906–1996), married Hon. Henry Douglas-Home (son of the 13th Earl of Home) and had issue. She was the author of "A Spencer Childhood", published in 1994.[15]

He was the great-grandparent of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Sources

• wikipedia:Charles Robert Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer

• http://www.thepeerage.com/p10105.htm#i101043

Charles Robert Spencer View Tree Sex Male Birth 1857 Sources 1 s1 , Tree #3164 Death 1922 Sources 1 s1 , Tree #3164 PARENTS Mother Adelaide Horatia Elizabeth Seymour Father Frederick Spencer MARRIAGES (1) Spouse Margaret Baring Marriage about 1874 SOURCES (1) World Family Tree Vol. 14, Ed. 1 CITING THIS RECORD The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "Pedigree Resource File," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:M15K-C2G : accessed 2017-09-11), entry for Charles Robert Spencer, submitted by chgleason2705703. SUBMITTED BY (2) ‎6‎/‎06‎/‎1999 chgleason2705703 ‎6‎/‎06‎/‎1999 chgleason2705702 ANCESTRAL FILE Ancestral File Number 35ZR-15S PEDIGREE RESOURCE FILE Person Count 9,750 Submission ID MM95-TCQ

• England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:WCT6-Y6Z : 22 February 2021), Charles R Spencer in household of Edward C Revelstoke, Lord, Holbeton, Devon, England, United Kingdom; from "1891 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 12, Devon county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
• England and Wales Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X9HY-5GV : 20 May 2019), Charles Robert Spencer, Chelsea, London, England, United Kingdom; from "1901 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing Chelsea North subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
• England and Wales Census, 1911," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XWLQ-FRY : 16 May 2019), Charles Robert Earl Spencer, St George Hanover Square, London, England, United Kingdom; from "1911 England and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 14, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
• England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPLD-BW63 : 17 September 2018), Charles Robert Spencer, 4 Jan 1923; citing Probate, Northamptonshire, England, United Kingdom, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Great Britain.; FHL microfilm .

1. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 14 December 2019), memorial page for Charles Robert Spencer (30 Oct 1857–26 Sep 1922), Find A Grave: Memorial #39835798, citing St Mary the Virgin with St John Churchyard, Great Brington, Daventry District, Northamptonshire, England ; Maintained by KRW (contributor 46517473) .

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Gilly Wood for starting this profile.