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Lord Henry Lennox

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The Right Honourable
Lord Henry Lennox
PC
Caricature by Ape published in Vanity Fair in 1870.
First Secretary of the Admiralty
In office
16 July 1866 – 1 December 1868
MonarchVictoria
Prime MinisterThe Earl of Derby
Benjamin Disraeli
Preceded byThomas Baring
Succeeded byWilliam Edward Baxter
First Commissioner of Works
In office
21 March 1874 – 14 August 1876
MonarchVictoria
Prime MinisterBenjamin Disraeli
Preceded byWilliam Patrick Adam
Succeeded byHon. Gerard Noel
Personal details
Born2 November 1821 (1821-11-02)
Died29 August 1886 (1886-08-30) (aged 64)
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
SpouseAmelia Brooman (d. 1903)
Alma materUniversity of Oxford

Lord Henry George Charles Gordon-Lennox PC (né Lennox; 2 November 1821 – 29 August 1886), known as Lord Henry Lennox, was a British Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1846 to 1885 and was a close friend of Benjamin Disraeli.

Background and education

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Lennox was the third son of Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond, and Lady Caroline, daughter of Field Marshal Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey. He was the brother of Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond, Lord Alexander Gordon-Lennox and Lord George Gordon-Lennox. He was educated at The Prebendal School, Chichester, then University of Oxford.[1] Henry 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.[2] Henry was nonetheless commonly known by only his second surname.

Political career

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Lennox entered the House of Commons in 1846 as Member of Parliament for Chichester, in Sussex. He represented this constituency until 1885,[3] when he stood for Partick, but was defeated.[4]

Lennox held office in every Conservative government between 1852 and 1876. He was a Junior Lord of the Treasury in 1852 and between 1858 and 1859 in the first two short-lived governments of the Earl of Derby before becoming First Secretary of the Admiralty in 1866 in Derby's last government, a post he held until 1868, the last year under the premiership of his close friend Benjamin Disraeli. According to John F. Beeler in British naval policy in the Gladstone-Disraeli era, 1866-1880, Lennox acted as a spy to the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Disraeli, informing him of the intentions of leading admirals.[5]

He served again under Disraeli as First Commissioner of Works from 1874 to 1876[6] and was admitted to the Privy Council in 1874.[7] He was forced to resign as First Commissioner of Works after revelations in the case of Twycross v Grant regarding the Lisbon Tramways swindle, of which company he was a director.[8][9]

Personal life

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Lennox married Amelia Susannah (née Smith, then Brooman), widow of John White, in 1883. They had no children. He died in August 1886, aged 64, and was buried in the family vault in the Lady Chapel of Chichester Cathedral.[10] Lady Henry Lennox died in February 1903.[1] John White was the uncle of another peer, Lord Overtoun, while lady Amelia was the great-grandmother of 1950s MP Richard Brooman-White.[11]

References

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  1. ^ a b Mosley, Charles (ed.) Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition. (volume 3) Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003. Page 3336.
  2. ^ "No. 19409". The London Gazette. 12 August 1836. p. 1441.
  3. ^ "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Chichester to Clitheroe". Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 5 September 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1889, page 214
  5. ^ Beeler, John F. British naval policy in the Gladstone-Disraeli era, 1866-1880, page 74. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997.
  6. ^ "No. 24081". The London Gazette. 27 March 1874. p. 1873.
  7. ^ "No. 24112". The London Gazette. 10 July 1874. p. 3423.
  8. ^ Sanders, Lloyd Charles (1893). "Lennox, Charles Gordon-" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 33. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  9. ^ The New York Times 7 August 1876. "Affairs in England".
  10. ^ Portsmouth Evening News, 3 September 1886, p. 4.
  11. ^ Loch mansion had colourful residents, Helensburgh Heritage Trust, 29 July 2019
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Chichester
1846–1885
With: John Abel Smith 1846–1859
Humphrey William Freeland 1859–1863
John Abel Smith 1863–1868
(representation reduced to one member 1868) 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by First Secretary of the Admiralty
1866–1868 		Succeeded by
Preceded by First Commissioner of Works
1874–1876 		Succeeded by
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