Charles Spencer (1740 - 1820)

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 16 Jun 1820 at age 80 in Petersham, Surrey, England

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Biography

Lord Charles Spencer (1740-1820) was the second son of Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough. He was Christened on April 18, 1740 in St. James, Westminster, England ^[1]

He married at 22 to Mary Beauclerk, daughter of the 1st Baron Vere and sister to the 5th Duke of St. Albans. The couple had three children; two sons who survived and a daughter who died young.

As a politician, he served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1761 to 1790 and from 1796 to 1801. He also served as a Privy Councillor of Great Britain, Comptroller of the Household, a Junior Lord of the Admiralty, Treasurer of the Chamber, Postmaster General, Master of the Mint, and as a Lord of the Bedchamber to George III.

Burial

He was buried on June 24, 1820^[2][3]Find A Grave: Memorial #28695482

Spurious third son

Lord Charles Spencer and his wife Mary Beauclerk are in some secondary sources credited with a third son, Robert Spencer; for instance in the Wikipedia page for Lord Charles Spencer.

It seems likely that the son Robert Spencer has been confused with his uncle of the same name (the death date of 1831 is the date the uncle died). The entry for Robert Spencer in thePeerage website states he is the son of Lord Charles Spencer and Hon. Mary Beauclerk, but is married to Henrietta Fawkener, who was the wife of the uncle, Lord Robert Spencer. See the entry for Lord Robert Spencer in The History of Parliament website for confirmation.

This confusion may have come about because of the numbering in Burke's Peerage. Charles Spencer (the father) is no. 2 (bolded) on page 1340 in the 1949 edition, his two sons, John and William Robert, are no. 1 and no. 2, then Robert Spencer is no. 3 (also bolded), which is following on from Charles Spencer, but could easily be read as being a third son rather than a brother.

Sources

1. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NKTR-N6X : 11 February 2018, Charles Baron Spencer, 18 Apr 1740); citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,042,308.
2. ↑ "England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JHBG-WM4 : 19 April 2018), Charles Spencer, burial 24 Jun 1820; citing Petersham Parish, Surrey, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,278,893.
3. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVV5-H77L : 13 December 2015), Charles Spencer, 1820; Burial, Petersham, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Greater London, England, St Peter Churchyard;

• https://thepeerage.com/p10600.htm#c105995.1