Lieutenant-General Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry (; 18 May 1778 – 6 March 1854), was an Anglo-Irish nobleman, soldier and politician. He served in the French Revolutionary Wars, in the suppression of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and in the Napoleonic Wars. He excelled as a cavalry commander in the Peninsular War (1807–1814) under Sir John Moore and the Duke of Wellington.
On resigning from his post under Wellington in 1812, his half-brother Lord Castlereagh helped him to launch a diplomatic career. He was posted to Berlin in 1813, and then as ambassador to Austria, where Castlereagh was the British plenipotentiary at the Congress of Vienna.
He married Lady Catherine Bligh in 1804 and then, in 1819, Lady Frances Vane-Tempest, a wealthy heiress, changing his surname to hers, thus becoming Charles Vane. In 1822 he succeeded his half-brother as 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, inheriting estates in the north of Ireland where, as an unyielding landlord, his reputation suffered in the Great Famine. It was a reputation he matched as a coal operator on his wife's land in County Durham. In opposition to the Mines and Collieries Act 1842, he insisted on his right to use child labour.
Early life Charles was born in Dublin as the second son of Robert Stewart and the first son by his second wife Frances Pratt. His father's family was Ulster-Scots and had been a Presbyterian before converting to the established Anglican communion of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy within whose ranks money (an East-India fortune acquired through his first wife) enabled him to move. Robert Stewart was created Viscount Castlereagh in 1795 and the Marquess of Londonderry in 1816.
Charles's mother was English, a daughter of Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, a leading English jurist. His parents had married on 7 June 1775. Charles was brought up as an Anglican, a member of the Church of Ireland.
Charles had a half-brother from his father's first marriage who played an important role in his life: Robert (1769–1822), known as "Lord Castlereagh", who achieved prominence as Foreign Secretary
In addition Charles had 11 full siblings, who are listed in his father's article.
In 1789, when he was 11, his father, Robert Stewart, was created Baron Londonderry. In 1795, his father was further created Viscount Castlereagh and in 1796, he was finally elevated to Marquess of Londonderry in the Irish peerage.
Military and parliamentary career On 3 April 1791, at the age of 12, Charles Stewart entered the British Army as an ensign in the 108th Regiment. He was commissioned a lieutenant on 8 January 1793 in this same unit. He saw service in 1794 in the Flanders Campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars, and on the Rhine and Danube in 1795.
He was lieutenant-colonel of the 5th Royal Irish Dragoons by the time he helped put down the Irish Rebellion of 1798. In 1803, Stewart was appointed aide-de-camp to King George III.
In 1800, Charles Stewart was elected in the Tory interest to the Irish House of Commons as member of parliament for Thomastown borough, County Kilkenny, in place of George Dunbar, and after only two months exchanged this seat for that of County Londonderry, being replaced at Thomastown by John Cradock. After the abolition of the Irish Parliament with the Act of Union in 1801, In July and August 1802 Stewart was re-elected for County Londonderry seat in the first general election of the United Kingdom and sat until the parliament's dissolution in 1806. He was reelected again in 1806, in 1807, after which he became Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, and again in 1812. In July 1814 he was summoned to the House of Lords and replaced as MP for Londonderry by his uncle Alexander Stewart of Ards.
Marriage and children On 8 August 1804 at the church of St George's, Hanover Square, London, Charles Stewart married Lady Catherine Bligh. She was the 4th and youngest daughter of the 3rd Earl of Darnley. She was three years his senior. Lady Catherine died during the night of 10–11 February 1812, of fever following a minor operation, while her husband was on his way home from Spain. They had one son:
Frederick William Robert Stewart, 4th Marquess of Londonderry (1805–1872)
In 1819, he married Lady Frances Vane-Tempest, daughter and heiress of Sir Henry Vane-Tempest, 2nd Baronet, and Anne MacDonnell, 2nd Countess of Antrim. She was 22 years his junior. They had six children:
George Henry Robert Charles William Vane-Tempest, 5th Marquess of Londonderry (1821–1884) Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane (1822–1899); married John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough. Lady Alexandrina Octavia Maria Vane (1823–1874), godchild of Alexander I of Russia; married Henry Dawson-Damer, 3rd Earl of Portarlington. Lord Adolphus Frederick Charles William Vane-Tempest (1825–1864), politician; became insane, and had to be medically restrained. Lady Adelaide Emelina Caroline Vane (c. 1830–1882); disgraced the family by eloping with her brother's tutor, Rev. Frederick Henry Law. Lord Ernest McDonnell Vane-Tempest (1836–1885), fell in with a press-gang and had to be bought a commission in the army, from which he was subsequently cashiered.
Peninsular War The remainder of his military career developed during the Napoleonic Wars, more exactly in the Peninsular War.
Corunna The war started with the Corunna Campaign (1808–1809), in which the British troops were commanded by Sir John Moore. In this campaign Charles Stewart commanded a brigade of cavalry, and played, together with Lord Paget, a prominent role in the cavalry clash of Benavente where the French General Lefebvre-Desnouettes was taken prisoner. He suffered from ophthalmia during the latter stages of the retreat.Macdonald, Janet. Sir John Moore: The Making of a Controversial Hero. Pen and Sword, 2016. p.234 Moore sent him back to London carrying dispatches for Castlereagh and other leading figuresMacDonald p.237 and he missed the climactic battle where British forces successfully managed to evacuate in the face of Marshal Soult's army at which Moore was killed in action.
Wellesley's Spanish campaign When British troops returned to the Iberian Peninsula after the Corunna Campaign, they were commanded by Sir Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington). Charles Stewart was appointed, in April 1809, Adjutant General to Wellesley. This was an administrative job and not much to his liking, especially as Wellesley never discussed his decisions with subordinates. Nevertheless, he sometimes managed to see action and distinguished himself, for example spontaneously leading a squadron cavalry charge at the Second Battle of Porto (May 1809), and further distinguishing himself at the battle of Talavera (July 1809), for which he received the thanks of the Parliament on 2 February 1810, when he returned to England due to illness. He also excelled at Bussaco in September 1810 and at Fuentes de Oñoro (May 1811) where he took a French colonel prisoner in single combat.
He resigned his position as Adjutant General in February 1812. Some say due to bad health, but others say that Wellington fired him. Wellington apparently appreciated him as a soldier but judged him a "sad brouillon and mischief-maker" among his staff. He served Emperor Alexander I of Russia during 1813–1814. During his visit to St Petersburg in 1836, Emperor Nicholas I honoured him with a medal commemorating the 1814 capture of Paris and invited him to a Christmas Day ceremony marking Russia’s liberation.
On 30 January 1813 he became a Knight Companion of the Bath, which made him Sir Charles Stewart. On 20 November 1813, he was made Colonel of the 25th Light Dragoons, an honorary position.
Diplomatic career His half-brother Robert had made a brilliant diplomatic and political career. Charles and his half-brother remained lifelong friends and wrote each other many letters. Robert helped Charles to start a diplomatic career.
Berlin From May 1813 until the end of the war, Sir Charles was Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Berlin, and was also Military Commissioner with the allied armies, being wounded at the Battle of Kulm in August 1813.
Vienna In 1814 he was also appointed Ambassador to Austria, a post he held for nine years (1814–1823). On 18 June 1814, to make him more acceptable in Vienna, Stewart was ennobled as Baron Stewart, of Stewart's Court and Ballylawn in County Donegal, by the Prince Regent. In the same year, he received honorary degrees from Oxford and Cambridge, was admitted to the Privy Council, and was appointed a Lord of the Bedchamber to the king.
Lord Stewart, as he now was, attended the Congress of Vienna with his half-brother Lord Castlereagh as one of the British plenipotentiaries. He was not well regarded as he made a spectacle of himself with his loutish behaviour, was apparently rather often inebriated, and frequented prostitutes quite openly. He earned himself the sobriquet of Lord Pumpernickel after a loutish character in a play in fashion.
In the following years he also served as British observer at the congresses of Troppau, Laibach and Verona. As the great powers were taking an increasingly reactionary approach, the British government sent Lord Stewart to observe, but not participate in the decisions.
Second marriage and children
Before the end of his diplomatic career Lord Stewart had, on 3 April 1819, married his second wife, Lady Frances Vane-Tempest, a daughter and heiress of Sir Henry Vane-Tempest, at her mother's house in Bruton Street, Mayfair, and took her surname of Vane, by Royal licence, as had been stipulated in her father's will. He was henceforth known as Charles William Vane, whereas his son from his first marriage stayed Frederick Stewart.
Children by Lady Frances Vane-Tempest: George Henry Robert Charles William Vane-Tempest, 5th Marquess of Londonderry (1821–1884) Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane (1822–1899); married John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough. Lady Alexandrina Octavia Maria Vane (1823–1874), godchild of Alexander I of Russia; married Henry Dawson-Damer, 3rd Earl of Portarlington. Lord Adolphus Frederick Charles William Vane-Tempest (1825–1864), politician; became insane, and had to be medically restrained. Lady Adelaide Emelina Caroline Vane (c. 1830–1882); disgraced the family by eloping with her brother's tutor, Rev. Frederick Henry Law. Lord Ernest McDonnell Vane-Tempest (1836–1885), fell in with a press-gang and had to be bought a commission in the army, from which he was subsequently cashiered.
Through his daughter Lady Frances, Lord Londonderry is the maternal grandfather of Lord Randolph Churchill, and consequently a great-grandfather of Winston Churchill.
Castlereagh's suicide
On 12 August 1822, his half-brother committed suicide. He succeeded his half-brother as 3rd Marquess of Londonderry in 1822. The following year Lord Londonderry was also created Earl Vane and Viscount Seaham, of Seaham in the County Palatine of Durham, with remainder to the heirs male of the body of his second wife.
His half-brother's death also meant the end of his diplomatic career. He quit the diplomatic service in 1823. Queen Victoria had a low opinion of Londonderry's abilities as a civil servant. She said that he should, in her opinion, not be given any post of importance.
Residences
Lord Londonderry used his new bride's immense wealth to acquire the Seaham Hall estate in County Durham, developing the coalfields there. He also built the harbour at Seaham, to rival nearby Sunderland. He commissioned Benjamin Wyatt to build a mansion at Wynyard Park. It was completed by Philip Wyatt in 1841 and cost £130,000 (equivalent to £10,772,000 in 2016) to build and furnish. Unfortunately, just as the mansion was being completed, a fire broke out and gutted the house; it was later restored and remodelled by Ignatius Bonomi.