(510) Beauclerk of Bestwood Lodge, Dukes of St. Albans - part 2

This post has been divided into two parts. Part 1 consists of my introduction to the family and its property, and a description of the houses built or acquired by the Beauclerks. This second part gives the biographical and genealogical details of the Dukes of St. Albans from the 17th to the 20th centuries. Three main cadet branches of the family (the Beauclerks of Little Grimsby Hall; the Beauclerks of St. Leonard's Lodge; and the Beauclerks of Winchfield Hall) have been identified, and these will be subject of separate future posts.

Beauclerk family of Bestwood Lodge, Dukes of St. Albans

Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St. Albans 

Beauclerk, Charles (1670-1726), 1st Duke of St. Albans. Elder illegitimate son of King Charles II (1630-85) and his mistress Nell Gwynn (d. 1687), born at his mother's house in Lincoln's Inn Fields, 8 May 1670. He was raised to the peerage as Earl of Burford and Baron Heddington, 27 December 1676, and advanced to be Duke of St. Albans on 10 January 1683/4. John Evelyn called him 'a very pretty boy' in 1684, but in 1704 Macky noted he had the dark complexion of his father. He was educated privately and travelled in France, 1684-85. He was appointed Chief Ranger of Enfield Chase (Middx), 1684, and Hereditary Grand Falconer of England, January 1685. After his father's death King James II put pressure on him to convert to Roman Catholicism, which he refused to do. He was made Colonel of the 8th Horse, 1687, and was sent abroad to gain military experience with a Catholic tutor, travelling to Hungary. He served in the Holy Roman Emperor's Army at the capture of Belgrade (Serbia) from the Turks in 1688, where he took captive two Turkish boys, who he brought home to England*. He returned home in time for his coming of age and took his seat in the House of Lords, 11 November 1691. His regiment having been nearly wiped out at the Battle of Steenkirk in 1692, it was disbanded, but he returned to Flanders and fought under William III at the Battle of Neerwinden (another defeat), and he was again in Flanders as a military volunteer in the summer of 1694. Despite his kinship links to the Stuart court, he was a favourite of King William III and was later a firm supporter of the Hanoverian succession. He was given a pension of £2,000 a year in 1694, made Captain of the Gentleman Pensioners, 1693-1712 and 1714-26, and a Lord of the Bedchamber to King William III, 1694-1702, in which capacity he was with the king when he received Czar Peter the Great at Utrecht (Holland) in 1697. He went to France as an ambassador in 1697-98, nominally to congratulate King Louis XIV on the marriage of his son but perhaps really in an unsuccessful attempt to weaken his support for the Old Pretender, but he left an unfortunate impression and unpaid debts in the shops. On his return he was appointed Hereditary Registrar of the Court of Chancery, 1698-1726. He was Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, 1714-26, and was made a Freeman and High Steward of Windsor, 1716, and High Steward of Wokingham, 1718. He was a Whig in politics, and King George I made him a Knight of the Garter, 1718. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society, 1722. After a long betrothal, he married, 17 April 1694, the noted beauty, Lady Diana (c.1679-1742)**, second daughter and eventually sole heiress of Aubrey de Vere (1627-1703), 20th and last Earl of Oxford, and had issue:

(1) Charles Beauclerk (1696-1751), 2nd Duke of St. Albans (q.v.);

(2) Lady Diana Beauclerk (b. 1697), born 1697; died unmarried and probably young***;

(3) Lord William Beauclerk (1698-1733) (q.v.);

(4) Admiral Lord Vere Beauclerk (1699-1781), 1st Baron Vere of Hanworth (q.v.);

(5) Lord Henry Beauclerk (1701-61), born 11 August 1701; an officer in the army (Ensign, 1717; Capt., 1727; Lt-Col., 1735), who was present at the siege of Gibraltar, 1727; Lieutenant of the Gentleman Pensioners, c.1728-35; Colonel of the 48th Foot, 1743-45 and of 31st Foot, 1745-49, but resigned his commission following a dispute with Duke of Cumberland, who 'persecuted this poor man for these four years, since he could not be persuaded to alter his vote at a court martial for the acquittal of a man, whom the Duke would have had condemned'; MP for Plymouth, 1740-41 and for Thetford, 1741-61; purchased Foliejon Park (Berks), 1744 (sold after his death); married, 24 June 1739, Martha (d. 1788), a Maid of Honour to Queen Caroline, 1732, daughter of John Lovelace (d. 1709), 4th Baron Lovelace of Hurley and Governor of New York, and had issue two sons and six daughters; died 5 January 1761; will proved in the PCC, 27 January 1761;

(6) Lord Sidney Beauclerk (1703-44) [for whom see my future post on the Beauclerk family of St. Leonard's Lodge (Sussex)]

(7) Lt-Gen. Lord George Beauclerk (1704-68) [for whom see my future post on the Beauclerk family of Winchfield House];

(8) Lord Seymour Beauclerk (b. & d. 1708), born 24 June 1708; died in infancy, 1 July 1708;

(9) Rt. Rev. Lord James Beauclerk (c.1709-87), born about 1709; educated at Abingdon and Queen's College, Oxford (matriculated 1727; BA 1730; MA 1733; BD and DD 1744); prebendary of Windsor, 1733 and canon of Windsor, 1738; chaplain to King George II, 1739; Deputy Clerk of the Closet, 1745-46; Bishop of Hereford, 1746-87; died unmarried, 20 October 1787; will proved in the PCC, 26 October 1787;

(10) Capt. Lord Aubrey Beauclerk (c.1710-41), born about 1710; joined the Royal Navy, 1723 (Lt., 1727; Capt. 1731); married Catherine (d. 1755), daughter of Sir Henry Newton, Envoy to Tuscany and Genoa and an Admiralty judge, and widow of Col. Francis Alexander (d. 1721), but had no issue; killed in action when both his legs were shot off at the Battle of Cartagena, 24 March 1740/1, and was probably buried at sea; he is commemorated by a fine monument in Westminster Abbey designed by Peter Scheemakers;

(11) Lady Mary Beauclerk (b. 1713), born 1713; died unmarried and probably young;

(12) Lady Anne Beauclerk (b. 1716), born 1716; died unmarried and probably young.

King Charles II leased Bestwood Park (Notts) to Nell Gwyn in 1681 and she subsequently acquired the freehold from King James II. She was alos given a house (later Burford House) close to Windsor Castle and another at 79 Pall Mall, Westminster. All these properties were bequeathed to the 1st Duke at her death in 1687, although Burford House was leased out to Prince George of Denmark until the Duke came of age in 1691. He was never really wealthy by ducal standards, and his income reached a maximum of about £10,000 a year in the first years of the 18th century. The house in Pall Mall was sold in 1694 to satisfy his creditors, and he was again in debt to his bankers in 1706.

He died on or about 10 May at Bath (Som.), and was buried in St John the Evangelist's chapel at Westminster Abbey, 20 May 1726, but he has no monument; his will was proved 25 August 1726. His widow died 15 January 1741/2 and was buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor, 28 January 1741/2; her will was proved 17 February 1741/2.

* One of them subsequently returned to his homeland while the other remained in England and died a Poor Knight of Windsor.

** The Duchess was First Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Anne during the Whig ascendancy of the early part of her reign, and later Mistress of the Robes and Lady of the Stole to Princess Caroline (later Queen Consort to George II) 1714-17, when she resigned because of the quarrel between King George I and his son.

*** Some sources say she was living in 1743, but this appears to be a confusion with the 2nd Duke's daughter of the same name.

Beauclerk, Charles (1696-1751), 2nd Duke of St. Albans. Eldest son of Charles Beauclerk (1670-1726), 1st Duke of St. Albans, and his wife Lady Diana de Vere (d. 1742), eldest daughter and eventually sole heiress of Aubrey de Vere (1627-1703), 20th and last Earl of Oxford, born 6 April 1696. Educated at Eton, 1706-07 and then privately and at New College, Oxford (matriculated 1714); travelled in Italy, 1716-17, with his friend Lord Nassau Paulet. Whig MP for Bodmin 1718-22 and Windsor, 1722-26; Freeman of Windsor, 1722 and High Steward of Windsor, 1726-51. Despite his kinship links with the exiled Stuart court, he was a firm supporter of the Hanoverian court, as his father had been, and he was made a Knight of the Bath when the Order was revived by King George I in 1725. He was styled Earl of Burford until he succeeded his father as 2nd Duke of St. Albans, Hereditary Grand Falconer of England, and Hereditary Registrar of the Court of Chancery, 11 May 1726. He became a favourite of King George II, who asked him to supervise the renovations at Windsor when Queen Caroline made it her principal summer residence, and made him a Knight of the Garter, 1741. He was appointed Master of the Horse to Queen Caroline, 1727; Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, 1727-51; Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle and Lord Warden of Windsor Forest, 1730-51; and was a Lord of the Bedchamber, 1738-51. Despite this chain of senior offices, he was described by Lord Hervey as ‘one of the weakest men either of the legitimate or spurious brood of Stuarts’. He was particularly fond of hunting, and from 1734-46 he spent a month or more each year in Sussex, where his cousin, the Duke of Richmond, maintained a hunting pack, and where he rented a house and stabling at Findon, and built a hunting lodge at Charlton (Sussex). He married, 13 December 1722 at Bray (Berks)*, Lucy (1707-52), eldest daughter and co-heir of Sir John Werden, 2nd bt., of Cholmondeston (Ches.), Leyland (Lancs) and Holyport (Berks), and had issue:

(1) Lady Diana Beauclerk (1725-66), born 20 October 1725; married, 2 February 1761, Rt. Rev. and Hon. Shute Barrington (1734-1826), Bishop of Durham (who m2, 2nd, 20 June 1770, Jane (1733-1807), only daughter of Sir John Guise, 4th bt.); died in giving birth to a stillborn daughter, 28 May 1766;

(2) George Beauclerk (1730-86), 3rd Duke of St. Albans (q.v.).

He is said to have had two mistresses by whom he had illegitimate children, the first being his cousin, Renée (1707-74), illegitimate daughter of Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, with whom is said to have had a daughter: 

(X1.1) Diane Beauclerk-Lennox (1727-64), who is said to have had a string of English and continental lovers by whom she had children, though her very existence seems doubtful.

By Marie-Françoise de la Rochefoucauld, daughter of Casimir-Jean Charles, he had is also said to have had issue:

(X2.1) Suzanne Beauclerk; married Jean Nolasque, Marquess of Noves and Count of Mimet.

He inherited Burford House, Windsor and Bestwood Park from his father in 1726. His mother occupied Burford House until 1742. From 1728-30 he leased Tidworth House (Wilts) and from 1730-34 Crawley Court (Hants). Later, he seems to have lived chiefly at Cranbourne Lodge, which came with his role as Warden of Windsor Forest, and which he refurbished and altered in 1733-35. As Governor of Windsor Castle he also had rooms in the Round Tower. 

He died at his house in St James' Place, Westminster, 27 July, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, 3 August 1751; administration of his goods was granted 17 August 1751. His widow died 12 November 1752, and was also buried in Westminster Abbey.

* A double wedding with his younger brother, who married his wife's younger sister.

3rd Duke of St. Albans
Image: Philip Mould Ltd.

Beauclerk, George (1730-86), 3rd Duke of St. Albans. Only son of Charles Beauclerk (1696-1751), 2nd Duke of St. Albans, and his wife Lucy, eldest daughter and co-heir of Sir John Werden, 2nd bt., of Burton Hall (Ches.), Leyland (Lancs) and Holyport (Berks), born 25 June 1730. Educated at Eton, 1742-48. He was styled Earl of Burford until he succeeded his father as 3rd Duke of St. Albans, Hereditary Grand Falconer of England, and Hereditary Registrar of the Court of Chancery, 27 July 1751. Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, 1751-60, 1771-86; a Lord of the Bedchamber, 1751; High Steward of Windsor, 1751. He carried the sword of state at the installation of the Prince of Wales, 1771. He leased the site of Durham House in London to the Adam brothers, where they constructed the Adelphi development. He married, 23 December 1752 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Jane (d. 1778)*, daughter and co-heir of Sir Walter Roberts, 6th bt., of Glassenbury Park (Kent), but they separated and had no legitimate issue. His later life was chaotic, probably as a result of a gambling addiction, and he twice had to flee abroad to avoid his creditors. According to an 'epitaph' published in the Duke's lifetime by Sir Herbert Croft he was: "Immersed in Dissipation, knew not an inclination/ Which he forebore to gratify/ Contempt and Wretchedness/ Closed the train of Dishonour, Riot and Sensuality/  He lamented his Mistake, without reforming his Conduct/ And having lived a tyrannical Husband and an insincere Friend/  Died an Exile, and a Mendicant". The mothers of his illegitimate children are not known with certainty, although his son George was evidently the child of Molly, a Windsor dairymaid with whom he eloped to Paris, and he lived for a time with a mistress, perhaps originally his kitchen maid, and four illegitimate children in a castle near Brussels, where he was eventually arrested for unpaid debts and forced by the authorities  to leave for ‘indecent living’. His known illegitimate children were:

(X1) A son (1748-59), born 1748; died young, 30 January 1759;

(X2) George Beauclerk (1755-56), born in Paris (France), 20 December 1755; died 11 October 1756;

(X3) Anne Amelie Beauclerk (1756-1826), born in Brussels (Belgium), 5 December 1756; married, 30 October 1781 at Brussels, Simon Fromont (1752-1823) of Brussels (Belgium); died at Pont-à-Mousson (France), 3 November 1826;

(X4) A son (1757-58), born September 1757; evidently the child he sired by his kitchen maid**; died in infancy, February 1758;

(X5) twin, (Mariette Victoire) Rose Beauclerk (1758-1829), born in Brussels, 1 December 1758; married, 7 January 1787 at Brussels, Hubert Offhuys, advocate, of Brussels (Belgium), and had issue one daughter; died at Pont-à-Mousson (France), 5 August 1829;

(X6) twin, Marie Agnes Beauclerk (b. 1758), born in Brussels, 1 December 1758; probably died young and certainly before her father wrote his will in 1785.

He inherited Burford House, Windsor and Bestwood Park from his father in 1751. He sold Burford House to King George III in 1779; Bestwood, which was entailed, passed to his first cousin once removed. On his marriage he acquired a life interest in estates in Kent and Surrey and three manors in Leicestershire absolutely. He lived latterly at the Château d'Indevelde (also known as Het Cattenhuys) at Eppegem near Brussels.

He died in Brussels (Belgium), 1 February 1786, when his peerages passed to his first cousin, once removed, George Beauclerk (1758-87) (q.v.); he was buried in the Duke of Ormond's vault in King Henry VII's chapel at Westminster Abbey, 11 March 1786; his will was proved in the PCC, 10 May 1786. His wife died 16 December 1778 and was buried at Cranbrook (Kent); her will was proved in the PCC, 13 February 1779.

* His wife brought him an immense portion, variously estimated at £125,000 or £150,000, but after their separation she regained control of this money and bequeathed it to her own kin.

** Horace Walpole recorded in a letter of 9 February 1758, 'The simple Duke of St. Albans, who is retired to Brussels for debt, has made a most sumptuous funeral in public for a dab of five months old that he had by his cookmaid'.

Beauclerk, Lord William (1698-1733). Second son of Charles Beauclerk (1670-1726), 1st Duke of St. Albans, and his wife Lady Diana de Vere (d. 1742), eldest daughter and eventually sole heiress of Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford, born 22 May 1698. Educated at Eton (admitted 1707). An officer in the army (Lt., 1716; Capt., 1721); MP for Chichester, 1724-33. Vice-Chamberlain of the Household to Queen Caroline, 1728-32. He married, 13 December 1722 at Bray (Berks)*, Charlotte (d. 1770), second daughter and co-heir of Sir John Werden, 2nd bt., of Burton Hall  (Ches.), Leyland (Lancs) and Holyport (Berks), and had issue:

(1) Charlotte Beauclerk (1723-93); married, 22 December 1744 at Great Stanmore (Middx), John Drummond (1723-74) of Stanmore, banker and MP for Thetford, 1768-74, son of Andrew Drummond, banker, and had issue two sons and two daughters; died 7 March 1793 and was buried at Great Stanmore, where she is commemorated by a monument; will proved in the PCC, 28 March 1793;

(2) William Beauclerk (1726-38), born 26 May 1726; educated at Eton; died 28 November and was buried at Bray (Berks), 2 December 1728;

(3) Charles Beauclerk (c.1727-75) (q.v.);

(4) Caroline Beauclerk (1728-69), born 14 December 1728 and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 11 January 1729; married, 23 February 1756, Lt-Gen. Sir William Draper KB (1721-87) (who m2, Elizabeth March, but sep. from her in India in 1773), but had no issue; buried at St Augustine-the-Less, Bristol, 19 August 1769;

(5) Ann Beauclerk (b. 1731), born 24 April and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 14 May 1731; probably died in infancy.

His widow inherited the 16,000 acre Werden family estate in Cheshire, Lancashire and Berkshire on the death of her father in 1758.

He died at Bath (Som.), 23 February 1732/3, and was buried at Westminster Abbey with his father, 2 March 1733. His widow died 3 July 1770 and was buried in Westminster Abbey; her will was proved in the PCC, 7 July 1770.

* A double wedding with his elder brother, who married his wife's elder sister.

Beauclerk, Charles (c.1728-75). Second son of Lord William Beauclerk (1698-1733) and his wife Charlotte, second daughter and co-heir of Sir John Werden, 2nd bt., of Cholmondeston (Ches.), Leyland (Lancs) and Holyport (Berks), born about 1727. Page of Honour to HRH the Duke of Cumberland, 1740. An officer in the army (Capt., 1763; Capt-Lt-Col. 1767); Governor of Pendennis Castle (Cornw.), 1774-75. He married, 1753 (licence, 3 July) in Ireland, Elizabeth Jones (d. 1768) of Kilkenny, and had issue:

(1) George Beauclerk (1758-87), 4th Duke of St. Albans (q.v.);

(2) William Beauclerk (b. & d. 1763), born 17 May and baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster (Middx), 9 June 1763; died in infancy and was buried at St Martin-in-the-Fields, 23 June 1763.

He inherited the Werden family estates from his mother in 1770.

He died 30 August and was buried at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), 1 September 1775; his will was proved in the PCC, 15 September 1775. His wife died 5 December 1768.

Beauclerk, George (1758-87), 4th Duke of St. Albans. Only surviving child of Charles Beauclerk (c.1727-75) and his wife Elizabeth Jones, born 5 December 1758 and baptised at Berwick-upon-Tweed (Northbld), 2 January 1759. An officer in the 3rd Foot Guards (Ensign, 1775; Capt-Lt., 1778), who served in the American War of Independence. He succeeded his first cousin once removed as 4th Duke of St. Albans, Hereditary Grand Falconer of England, and Hereditary Registrar of the Court of Chancery, 1 February 1786. He was unmarried and without issue.

He inherited the Werden family estates from his father in 1775, but bequeathed them to his father's elder sister. He inherited the entailed Bestwood Lodge estate from the 3rd Duke in 1786, and at his death this passed to his father's cousin, the 5th Duke.

He died 10 February 1787, when his peerages passed to his first cousin, once removed, Aubrey Beauclerk (1740-1802), 2nd Baron Vere of Hanworth (q.v.); his will was proved in the PCC, 23 February 1787.

Adm. the 1st Baron Vere of Hanworth 

Beauclerk, Admiral Lord Vere (1699-1781), 1st Baron Vere of Hanworth. Third son of Charles Beauclerk (1670-1726), 1st Duke of St. Albans, and his wife Lady Diana (d. 1742), eldest daughter and eventually sole heiress of Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford, born 14 July 1699. An officer in the Royal Navy from about 1713 (Lt., 1717; Capt., 1721; Rear-Adm. 1745; Vice-Adm., 1746; Adm. 1748; ret. 1749); Navy Commissioner, 1732-38; a Lord of the Admiralty, 1738-42, 1744-49; he resigned all of his naval appointments in a huff after Admiral Lord Anson, technically his junior, was appointed Vice-Admiral of Great Britain in preference to him. Whig MP for Windsor, 1726-41 and for Plymouth, 1741-50. He was raised to the peerage in recognition of his naval and parliamentary service as Baron Vere of Hanworth, 28 March 1750. Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, 1761-71. He married, 13 April 1736 at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), Mary (d. 1783), elder daughter and co-heir of Thomas Chambers, by his wife Mary, daughter of Charles Berkeley, 2nd Earl of Berkeley, and had issue:

(1) Vere Beauclerk (1736-39), born 12 January and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 5 February 1735/6; died young, 26 December and was buried at Hanworth, 28 December 1739;

(2) Chambers Beauclerk (1738-47), born 22 February and baptised at St James Piccadilly, Westminster, 29 March 1738; educated at Westminster School; died young at Buxton (Derbys), 16 July 1747;

(3) Sackville Beauclerk (b. & d. 1739), born 12 April and baptised at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster, 21 April 1739; died in infancy, 25 April 1739, and was buried at Hanworth;

(4) Aubrey Beauclerk (1740-1802), 2nd Baron Vere of Hanworth and 5th Duke of Albans (q.v.);

(5) Elizabeth Beauclerk (1741-46), born 7 July and baptised at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster, 16 July 1741; died young and was buried at Hanworth, 26 April 1746;

(6) Hon. Mary Beauclerk (1743-1812), born 4 December and baptised at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster, 31 December 1743; married, 2 October 1762 at Hanworth, Lord Charles Spencer MP (1740-1820) of Wheatfield (Oxon), and had issue three sons; died 31 January and was buried at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster, 7 February 1812.

He inherited Hanworth Park (Middx) in right of his wife on the death of her father in 1736. Both he and his wife inherited £30,000 of stock under the will of Lady Betty Germaine in 1769, and his wife received a further legacy of £20,000 from the same source.

He died 2 October and was buried at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster, 6 October 1781; his will was proved in the PCC, 11 October 1781. His widow died 21 January and was buried at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster, 11 February 1783; her will was proved in the PCC, 11 March 1783.

5th Duke of St. Albans 

Beauclerk, Aubrey (1740-1802), 2nd Baron Vere of Hanworth and 5th Duke of St. Albans. Fourth but only surviving son of Admiral Lord Vere Beauclerk (1699-1781), 1st Baron Vere of Hanworth and his wife Mary, elder daughter and co-heir of Thomas Chambers, born 3 June and baptised at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), 19 June 1740. Educated at Westminster and Queen's College, Oxford (matriculated 1758). MP for Thetford, 1761-68 and for Aldborough (Yorks), 1768-74; he was initially selected for Thetford as a Tory, but transferred his allegiance to the Whigs after his marriage in 1763. His wife's connections provided him with a fine entrée to the highest level of Whig politics, but his passion was less for politics than for field sports and horse racing, and for the fine arts, and he seems never to have spoken in Parliament. He lived for a time in Rome from the later 1770s, partly because he and his wife were 'so in debt they found it troublesome staying at home', partly to study art and collect pictures, drawings, marbles, bas-reliefs, bronzes and ivories, and partly to escape tiresome and probably unfounded rumours that his wife was having an affair with their close friend Thomas Brand (1749-94) of The Hoo, Welwyn (Herts), who went with them to Italy. Beauclerk and Brand jointly financed the excavation of an ancient Roman site at Centrocelle, and he had himself and his family painted by fashionable Italian artists, so his financial position cannot have been too desperate. He was styled The Hon. Aubrey Beauclerk from 1750-81, when he succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Vere of Hanworth; and in 1787 he also succeeded his first cousin once removed as 5th Duke of St. Albans, Hereditary Grand Falconer of England, and Hereditary Registrar of the Court of Chancery; the latter position lapsing on his death, together with a grant of £1,000 a year made by Queen Anne in 1703. After his wife's death, he brought his pictures and other collections together at his town house in Mansfield St., Westminster, and he therefore lost very little in the fire which totally destroyed Hanworth Palace and the adjacent church in 1797. In order to pay for its rapid rebuilding, however, a large part of his art collection, including works inherited from his father and father-in-law, was sold at auction in 1798. Rather surprisingly, within three years he was buying art again, spending over £2,000 at the auction of Lord Bessborough's collection in 1801. He married, 4 May 1763 at her father's house in Cavendish Sq., St. Marylebone (Middx), Lady Catherine (1742-89), elder daughter of William Ponsonby (1704-93), 2nd Earl of Bessborough, and had issue:

(1) Lady Catherine Elizabeth Beauclerk (1764-1803), born 20 February and baptised at St. Marylebone, 19 March 1764; managed her father's household after the death of her mother and was his residuary legatee, in which capacity she sold much of the collection of pictures he had purchased at the Earl of Bessborough's sale (at a loss); married, 1 September 1802 in Paris (France), Rev. James Burgess (1765-1827), vicar of Hanworth (Middx), 1805-16, son of Rev. James Burgess, but had no issue; died in Italy and was buried there, 12 July 1803;

(2) Aubrey Beauclerk (1765-1815), 6th Duke of St. Albans (q.v.);

(3) William Beauclerk (1766-1825), 8th Duke of St. Albans (q.v.);

(4) Lady Caroline Beauclerk (1769-1838), born 6 February and baptised at St Marylebone (Middx), 7 March 1769; married, 16 February 1797 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Hon. Charles Lawrence Dundas (1771-1810), MP for Malton, 1798-1805 and Richmond (Yorks), 1806-10, fourth son of Sir Thomas Dundas, 2nd bt. and later 1st Baron Dundas, and had issue one son and three daughters; died 23 November 1838; will proved in the PCC, 22 December 1838;

(5) Admiral Lord Amelius Beauclerk (1771-1846) [for whom, see my forthcoming post on the Beauclerk family of Winchfield House];

(6) Rev. Lord Frederick Beauclerk (1773-1850) [for whom, see my forthcoming post on the Beauclerk family of Winchfield House];

(7) Lady Georgiana Gertrude Beauclerk (1776-91), born 18 September and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 12 October 1776; died young, 17 October, and was buried at Hanworth, 27 October 1791.

He inherited Hanworth Palace from his mother in 1783 and Bestwood Park from his first cousin once removed in 1787. Hanworth Palace was leased from 1793 and he bought a smaller house called Hampton Deep nearby as a country retreat. In 1797 Hanworth Palace burned down except for the stable block, and he built a new but much smaller house on the site, which was largely completed by his death.

He died 9 February 1802 and was buried at Hanworth; his will was proved in the PCC, 10 March 1802. His wife died of breast cancer, 4 September 1789 and was also buried at Hanworth; administration of her goods was granted in August 1793.

6th Duke of St. Albans, by   
Lemuel Francis Abbott 

Beauclerk, Aubrey (1765-1815), 6th Duke of St. Albans. Eldest son of Aubrey Beauclerk (1740-1802), 2nd Baron Vere of Hanworth and 5th Duke of St Albans, and his wife Lady Catherine, daughter of William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough, born 21 August 1765. He was in Italy with his parents, 1779-81 and apparently returned to Rome in 1782-83, although by then he was an officer in the army (Ensign, 1781; Capt. 1783; Major, 1789; Lt-Col., 1789; retired 1794). A Whig in politics, he was MP for Kingston-upon-Hull, 1790-96, but never spoke in the House; indeed, he was out of the country with his regiment for a substantial part of his term. He was styled Earl of Burford, 1787-1802, when he succeeded his father as 6th Duke of St Albans and Hereditary Grand Falconer of England, but did not inherit the position of Registrar of the Court of Chancery, which lapsed on his father's death. He married 1st, 9 July 1788 at Mayfair Chapel, Curzon St., Westminster (Middx),  Jane (1766-1800), daughter of John Moses of Hull, and 2nd, 15 August 1802 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Grace Louisa (1777-1816)*, fourth daughter of John Manners of Grantham Grange (Lincs), and had issue:

(1.1) Lady Mary Beauclerk (1791-1845), born at Hanworth, 30 March 1791; heiress to her mother's personal estate of £100,000, which made her a tempting target for fortune hunters; she eventually eloped with and married, 24 June 1811 at Gretna Green, as his second wife, George William Coventry (1784-1843), Lord Deerhurst (from 1831, 8th Earl of Coventry), from whom she was separated c.1815, and had issue one son and one daughter; lived subsequently in Italy with her daughter; died suddenly of a stroke at Naples, 11 September 1845;

(2.1) Aubrey Beauclerk (1815-16), 7th Duke of St. Albans, born 7 April 1815; succeeded his father as 7th Duke of St Albans and Hereditary Grand Falconer of England, 12 August 1815; died in infancy of a fever, 19 February 1816 (three hours before his mother), and was buried with his mother at Hanworth, 11 March 1816.

He inherited Bestwood Park and the Hanworth estate from his father in 1802. Much of the Hanworth property was sold off in 1811. At his death the entailed estate at Bestwood passed to his son, and on his death a few months later, reverted to his younger brother. His unentailed property, including the house at Hanworth, passed to his widow and on her death, passed under her will to her sister, Mrs. Laura Dalrymple.

He died of a stroke, 12 August and was buried at Hanworth (Middx), 19 August 1815. His first wife died (as Countess of Burford) at St Paul's Waldenbury (Herts), 18 August 1800. His widow died of the same fever as her son, 19 February, and was buried with her son at Hanworth, 11 March 1816.

* Lady Harriet Cavendish called her 'a very great beauty' and Joseph Nollekens found her 'extremely good-natured', but after the Duke's death, strong suspicions arose that she was having an affair with the future Sir George Sinclair, and even that her son was the product of this relationship. The accusations to this effect by the 6th Duke's younger brothers led her to bequeath the property she had inherited from her husband away from the Beauclerk family.

8th Duke of St. Albans as a midshipman 
in the Royal Navy, by George Romney, c.1784 

Beauclerk, William (1766-1825), 8th Duke of St. Albans. Second son of Aubrey Beauclerk (1740-1802), 2nd Baron Vere of Hanworth and 5th Duke of St Albans, and his wife Lady Catherine, daughter of William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough, born 18 December 1766 and baptised at St. Marylebone, 14 January 1767. An officer in the Royal Navy (Midshipman, 1782; Lt., 1788; Cdr., 1822). High Sheriff of Denbighshire, 1803, and of Lincolnshire, 1808. He was styled Lord William Beauclerk, 1787-1816, when he succeeded his nephew as 8th Duke of St Albans and Hereditary Grand Falconer of England. He married 1st, 21 July 1791 at Gautby (Lincs), Charlotte (1769-97), daughter and heir of Rev. Robert Carter Thelwall of Redbourne Hall (Lincs), and 2nd, 5 March 1799 at Little Grimsby (Lincs), Maria Janetta (d. 1822), only daughter and heir of John Nelthorpe of Little Grimsby Hall, and had issue:

(1.1) William Robert Beauclerk (b. & d. 1794), born 11 May 1794; died in infancy, 13 May 1794;

(2.1) Lady Maria Amelia Beauclerk (1800-73), born 11 May and baptised at Redbourne, 18 May 1800; epileptic, who was a patient at Ticehurst Mental Hospital from 1851; died unmarried at Ticehurst (Sussex), 9 July 1873; administration of her goods granted 29 July 1873 (effects under £12,000);

(2.2) William Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk (1801-49), 9th Duke of St. Albans (q.v.);

(2.3) Lady Charlotte Beauclerk (1802-42), born 4 April and was baptised at Redbourne, 18 April 1802; died unmarried, 12 August. and was buried at Highgate Cemetery, 18 August 1842;

(2.4) Julia Catherine Beauclerk (b. & d. 1803), born about April 1803; died in infancy and was buried at Redbourne, 17 August 1803;

(2.5) Lady Caroline Janetta Beauclerk (1804-62), born in London, 28 June 1804; married, 14 July 1825 at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), Arthur Algernon Capell (1803-92), 6th Earl of Essex (who m2, 3 Jun 1863, Lady Louisa Caroline Elizabeth (1833-76), daughter of Richard Edmund St. Lawrence Boyle, 9th Earl of Cork and had further issue one son and one daughter, and who m3, 25 April 1881, Louisa Elizabeth (d. 1914), second daughter of Charles Fieschi Heneage and widow of Gen. Lord George Augustus Frederick Paget KCB (1818-80)), and had issue three sons and one daughter; died 22 August 1862;

(2.6) John Nelthorpe Beauclerk (1805-10), born 3 December and baptised at Redbourne, 18 December 1805; died young of scarlet fever, 4 August, and was buried at Hanworth (Middx);

(2.7) Lady Louisa Georgiana Beauclerk (1806-43), born 20 December 1806 and baptised at Redbourne, 4 January 1807; married, 28 December 1835 at the British Embassy in Munich (Germany), Thomas Hughan (1811-79) (who m2, c.1868, Louisa Senhouse (1829-1900), daughter of Forster Clarke) of Airds House (Kirkcudbrights.) and had issue three daughters; died 18 February 1843;

(2.8) Capt. Lord Frederick Charles Peter Beauclerk (1808-65) [for whom see the forthcoming post on the Beauclerk family of Little Grimsby];

(2.9) Lady Georgiana Beauclerk (1809-80), born 11 September 1809; married, 10 February 1829 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Sir Montague John Cholmeley MP (1802-74), 2nd bt., of Norton Place (Lincs), and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 8 January 1880; administration of her goods was granted 10 March 1880 (effects under £2,000);

(2.10) Lady Mary Noel Beauclerk (1810-50), born 28 December 1810 and baptised at Redbourne, 7 January 1811; married, 15 December 1836 at Easton (Lincs), Thomas George Corbett (1796-1868) of Elsham Hall (Lincs), and had issue two daughters; died 29 November 1850;

(2.11) Lord Henry Beauclerk (1812-56), born 23 June and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 12 July 1812; an officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1830; Lt., 1833; ret. 1837); his retirement from the army followed an attack of 'brain fever' which required him to be restrained, and he was admitted to Ticehurst Mental Hospital, 16 March 1852; died unmarried, 22 January and was buried at Highgate Cemetery (Middx), 30 January 1856;

(2.12) Lord Charles Beauclerk (1813-61), born 10 October and baptised at Redbourne, 1 November 1813; an officer in the army (Ensign, 1832; Lt., 1836; Capt., 1839; retired 1842) and later in Northumberland Militia (Maj., 1857); a series of his sketches of military operations in Canada were engraved and published in 1840; lived at Riding House (Northumbld); married, 7 September 1842 at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster, Laura Maria Theresa (c.1825-58), daughter and heiress of Col. Edward Stopford, HM Ambassador to Spain, and had issue five sons and four daughters (from whom the 13th and present Dukes are descended); died from injuries received while trying to rescue a lifeboat crew in a storm in Scarborough harbour, 2 November 1861, and was buried at Scarborough (Yorks NR); administration of his goods granted 4 September 1862 and 29 May 1896 (effects under £1,000); 

(2.13) Lord Amelius Wentworth Beauclerk (1815-79), born 16 August and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 27 August 1815; educated at Royal Naval College, Dartmouth; joined Royal Navy in 1830 (Lt., 1841; Cdr., 1846; Capt., 1864; ret. 1864); JP for Suffolk; lived at Leiston Hall (Suffk); married, 27 July 1853 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Frances Maria (1834-1910) (who m2, 2 January 1884 at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster, Lt-Gen. John Walpole D'Oyly (1821-97)), only daughter and heiress of Charles Mathew Harrison of London, and had issue three sons and four daughters; died in London, 24 March 1879; will proved 1 May 1879 (effects under £70,000);

(2.14) Lord George Augustus Beauclerk (1818-80), born 14 December and baptised at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster, 28 December 1818; educated at Charterhouse; an officer in the army (Cornet, 1838; Lt., 1841; Capt., 1844; Maj., 1853; retired, 1857), who served in the Crimean War; died unmarried, 3 January 1880; will proved 28 January 1880 (effects under £20,000).

He inherited Bestwood Park from his father in 1815. He also inherited Redbourne Hall in right of his first wife and Little Grimsby Hall in right of his second wife. He rented the Upper Gatton estate in Surrey.

He died 17 July 1825 and was buried at Redbourne; his will was proved in the PCC, 8 November 1825. His first wife died 19 October 1797. His second wife died 17 January 1822.

Beauclerk, William Aubrey de Vere (1801-49), 9th Duke of St. Albans. Eldest son of William Beauclerk (1766-1825), 8th Duke of St. Albans and his second wife, Maria Janetta, only daughter and heir of John Nelthorpe of Little Grimsby Hall (Lincs), born 24 March and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 11 May 1801. He was styled Earl of Burford from 1815-25, when he succeeded his father as 9th Duke of St Albans and Hereditary Grand Falconer of England. He was the bearer of the sceptre with the cross at the coronation of William IV, 1830. Although he received an honorary degree from Cambridge University (LLD, 1828), he was widely regarded as lacking in intelligence, and he was uninterested in public affairs. In the 1840s he suffered from deteriorating eyesight and from epileptic fits resulting from a hunting accident. He married 1st, 16 June 1827 at 1 Stratton St., Westminster, Harriot (1777-1837), a former actress, probably the daughter of Lt. Matthew Mellon of the Madras Infantry, and widow and principal heiress of Thomas Coutts, banker*; and 2nd, 29 May 1839 at Harby (Leics), Elizabeth Catherine (1813-93), youngest daughter of Maj-Gen. Joseph Gubbins of Stoneham (Hants) and Kilfrush (Co. Limerick), and had issue:

(2.1) William Amelius Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk (1840-98), 10th Duke of St. Albans (q.v.);

(2.2) Lady Diana de Vere Beauclerk (1841-1905), born 10 December 1841 and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 11 January 1842; there were rumours of her engagement to the Prince of Orange in 1863, but this was opposed by Queen Victoria and she eventually married, 18 December 1872, the Hon. Sir John Walter Huddleston QC MP (1815-90), last Baron of the Exchequer, of The Grange, Ascot (Berks), youngest son of Thomas Huddleston, an officer in the Merchant Navy, but had no issue; died in London, 1 April 1905 and was buried at Bestwood; will proved 14 June 1905 (estate £83,468).

After the death of his first wife, he is said to have seduced a servant girl by whom he had issue a daughter:

(X1.1) Charlotte? [Beauclerk] (b. 1839), born 19 July 1839; married and had issue.

He inherited Bestwood Park and Redbourne Hall from his father in 1825. His first wife gave him £30,000 and and an estate at Woodham Walter (Essex) on their marriage, and left him a life interest in Holly Lodge, Highgate (Middx) and 80 Piccadilly, Westminster, and an annuity of £10,000 a year. His second wife brought him a dowry of £15,000.

He died in London, 27 May 1849 and was buried at Highgate Cemetery; he is commemorated by a monument there, and by another at Redbourne; his will was proved 14 July 1849. His first wife died 6 August 1837 and is also commemorated by a monument at Redbourne; her will was proved in the PCC (estate under £600,000)**, though most of this vast estate was left to her step-granddaughter, Angela Burdett-Coutts. His widow married 2nd, 10 November 1859 at All Saints, Ennismore Gardens, Knightsbridge (Middx), as his second wife, Lucius Bentinck Cary (1803-84), 1st Baron Hunsdon and 10th Viscount Falkland, and died 2 December 1893.

* Although there seems to have been a genuine fondness between the couple, it was essentially a marriage of convenience, in which the Duke gained access to his wife's fortune and she gained the social kudos of his title, although much of fashionable society still refused to receive her because of her low birth and acting career.

** Not £900,000 as claimed in the press, or £1.8m as stated in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

10th Duke of St. Albans.
Image: National Portrait Gallery 

Beauclerk, Rt. Hon. William Amelius Aubrey de Vere (1840-98), 10th Duke of St. Albans. Only son of William Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk (1801-49), 9th Duke of St. Albans, and his second wife, Elizabeth Catherine, youngest daughter of Maj-Gen. Joseph Gubbins of Stoneham (Hants) and Kilfrush (Co. Limerick), born 15 April and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 23 May 1840. He was styled Earl of Burford until 1849, when he succeeded his father as 10th Duke of St Albans and Hereditary Grand Falconer of England. Educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1860), and undertook a tour of Italy with his mother, 1859; on this and later European journeys he collected works of art and bibelots to furnish Bestwood Lodge (some of which were lost in the fire there in 1885, in which many family papers were also destroyed). He was a Whig in politics and served as Captain of the Yeoman of the Guard (Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Lords), 1868-74, being appointed to the Privy Council in 1869. Later, he fell out with Gladstone over the latter's Home Rule policy and in 1886 he joined the Unionists; it was presumably because of his displeasure with Gladstone that he turned down the Order of the Garter in 1885. In local government he was Hon. Col. of 1st Nottinghamshire Rifle Volunteers, 1868; a JP and DL for Lincolnshire (from 1860); a member of Nottinghamshire County Council, 1889-98, and Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, 1880-98. In the 1870s, he developed Bestwood Colliery on the estate, the profits from which effectively substituted for the income his father had enjoyed from the Coutts banking fortune. He was a member of the Jockey Club, 1863-98, and encouraged cricket on his estate, but his principal sporting interest was in yachting, and he was a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron, 1862-98. He also shared literary interests with his second wife, and commissioned Philip Bagenal to write a biography of his father-in-law, published under his name as The life of R.B. Osborne (1884). He was described as 'a cheery, sensible, steady, kind-hearted man of business'; middle-class values which he combined with aristocratic interests in a rather modern way. He married 1st, 20 June 1867 in the Chapel Royal at St James' Palace, London, Sybil Mary (1848-71), eldest daughter of Lt-Gen. the Hon. Charles Grey, private secretary to HM Queen Victoria; and 2nd, 3 January 1874, Grace (1848-1926), younger daughter but sole heiress of Sir Ralph Bernal (later Bernal Osborne) (1808-82), MP, and had issue:

(1.1) Lady Louise de Vere Beauclerk (1869-1958), born 12 April 1869; goddaughter of HRH Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll; inherited the Regency furniture from Redbourne Hall; married, 25 October 1890, Gerald Walter Erskine Loder (1861-1938), 1st Baron Wakehurst, son of Sir Robert Loder, and had issue one son and four daughters; lived latterly at Stapleton House, Martock (Som.); died 15 December 1958; will proved 29 April 1959 (estate £4,672);

(1.2) Charles Victor Albert Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk (1870-1934), 11th Duke of St. Albans (q.v.);

(1.3) Lady Sybil Evelyn de Vere Beauclerk (1871-1910), born 21 August  and baptised at Holy Trinity, Brompton (Middx), 6 September 1871; married, 4 November 1899 at Holy Trinity, Chelsea (Middx), Maj. William Frank Lascelles (1863-1913), elder son of Rt. Hon. Sir Frank Cavendish Lascelles GCB GCMG GCVO, diplomat, and had issue two daughters; died 20 September 1910 and was buried at Bestwood; administration of goods granted 3 November 1910 (estate £670);

(2.1) Osborne de Vere Beauclerk (1874-1964), 12th Duke of St. Albans (q.v.);

(2.2) Lady Moyra de Vere Beauclerk (1876-1942), born 20 January and baptised at Bestwood, 27 February 1876; married, 30 July 1895 at Bestwood, Lord Richard Frederick Cavendish MP (1871-1946), second son of Lord Edward Cavendish, and had issue one son and four daughters; died 7 February and was buried at Flookburgh (Lancs), 9 February 1942; will proved 26 May 1942 (estate £14,157);

(2.3) Lady Katherine de Vere Beauclerk (1877-1958), born 25 May and baptised at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster (Middx), 21 June 1877; married 1st, 23 January 1896 at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster (div. 1920), Henry Charles Somers Augustus Somerset (1874-1945) of Reigate Priory (Surrey), author, son of the Rt. Hon. Lord Henry Richard Charles Somerset, and had issue three sons; married 2nd, 22 April 1921 at Westminster Registry Office, Maj-Gen. Sir William Lambton KCB CMG CVO DSO (1863-1936); died at her home in France, 31 January 1958; will proved 3 September 1958 (estate in England, £5,533);

(2.4) Lady Alexandra de Vere Beauclerk (1878-1935), born 5 July 1878; died unmarried, 16 April 1935, and was buried at Bestwood; administration of her goods was granted 16 September 1935 (estate £9,144).

(2.5) Lord William Huddleston de Vere Beauclerk (1883-1954), born 16 August 1883; educated at Eton, where he set fire to a building; "a bachelor of somewhat limited intellect", who became mentally ill and was confined in institutions; died unmarried at The Priory, Roehampton (Surrey), 25 December 1954; administration of his goods was granted 2 April 1954 (estate £3,841).

He inherited Bestwood Park, Redbourne Hall and Woodham Walter from his father in 1849 and came of age in 1861. He sold Woodham Walter and the part of the Redbourne estate at Pickworth (Lincs) and used the proceeds to build Bestwood Lodge to the designs of S.S. Teulon in 1862-65 and to enlarge it in the 1870s; a further remodelling took place after a severe fire in 1885, which destroyed the original drawing room. His second wife inherited Newtown Anner (Co. Tipperary) from her mother in 1880.

He died at the home of a friend at Brooke House, Brightstone (Isle of Wight), 10 May 1898, and was buried at Bestwood; his will was proved 24 May 1898 (effects £9,753). His first wife died following childbirth, 7 September 1871, and was buried at Alnwick (Northbld). His widow died 18 November 1926; her will was proved 6 April 1927 (estate £16,166).

11th Duke of St. Albans 

Beauclerk, Charles Victor Albert Aubrey de Vere (1870-1934), 11th Duke of St. Albans. Only son of Rt. Hon. William Amelius Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk (1840-98), 10th Duke of St. Albans, and his first wife, Sybil Mary, eldest daughter of Lt-Gen. the Hon. Charles Grey, born 26 March and baptised 10 May 1870. Godson of HM Queen Victoria and HM King Edward VII. Educated at Eton. He was an officer in the 3rd (Militia) Battalion, the Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) (2nd Lt., 1888; Lt., 1889). His appointment to a 2nd Lieutenancy in the 1st Life Guards was gazetted in June 1893 but cancelled in September. He was an officer in the South Nottinghamshire Yeomanry (2nd Lt., 1894; Capt., 1898; retired 1900). He was styled Earl of Burford until 1898, when he succeeded his father as 11th Duke of St Albans and Hereditary Grand Falconer of England.  However, he suffered from severe depression and paranoid delusions, and was confined as a patient in a small house in the grounds of Ticehurst House Hospital (Sussex), 1899-1934. He was unmarried and without issue.

He inherited Bestwood Park and Redbourne Hall from his father in 1898, but his affairs were managed by trustees, who leased Bestwood Lodge from 1915 and sold the 5,412 acre Redbourne estate for £106,030 in June 1917.

He died 19 September 1934 and was buried at Bestwood; administration of his goods was granted 27 April and 19 May 1935 (estate £173,159).

12th Duke of St. Albans 

Beauclerk, Osborne de Vere (1874-1964), 12th Duke of St. Albans. Eldest son of Rt. Hon. William Amelius Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk (1840-98), 10th Duke of St. Albans, and his second wife, Grace, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Ralph Bernal Osborne MP, born at Newtown Anner (Co. Tipperary), 16 October 1874. Educated at Eton. An officer in 17th Lancers (2nd Lt., 1895; Lt., 1896; Capt. 1901; retired 1902), who served in the Boer War; later an officer in the South Nottinghamshire Hussars (Maj., 1904). After leaving the army, he travelled extensively in Persia, Russia, Tibet, and the Middle and Far East, partly for game shooting, and a shared interest in this part of the globe brought him the friendship of Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (d. 1922). In 1911-13 he travelled in British Columbia (Canada),  where he was involved in an unsuccessful gold mining project at Cassiar; and went camping with Warburton Mayer Pike (1861-1915) and Marshall Latham Bond (1867-1941). In the First World War, he acted as ADC to Field Marshal the Earl Haig, and in the Second, he joined the Home Guard. High Sheriff of Co. Waterford, 1920 and DL for Co. Waterford, 1920-22. He was styled Lord Osborne Beauclerk until 1934, when he succeeded his half-brother as 12th Duke of St. Albans and Hereditary Grand Falconer of England. Wilfrid Blunt thought him 'without pretension and [he] has a kindly heart', but others would have disagreed. He could exhibit great charm, wit, and intelligence when he chose, but was more often snobbish, haughty and verbally cruel, and he was habitually indolent. His inconsistency of manner meant that he had few close friends. The worlds of politics and business bored him, and his finances—already weakened by his brother’s long period of ill-health—gradually declined. As he became older, he took pleasure in behaving perversely and building a reputation for eccentricity. In 1953 he sought permission to attend the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II accompanied by a live falcon, as a mark of his position as Grand Falconer, but when this was refused he declined to attend at all. He married, 19 August 1918 at St Thomas' chapel, Taney (Co. Dublin), Lady Beatrix Frances GBE DGStJ (1877-1953), second daughter of Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne and widow of Henry de la Poer Beresford (1875-1911), 6th Marquess of Waterford (by whom she had had three sons and three daughters), but had no issue. As time went on, the couple lived increasingly separate lives: she in Ireland and he in London. He claimed to have had had many mistresses and many illegitimate children*, but few if any of the claims may have been true; the only mistress who can be identified with certainty is Mrs. Norah Ricardo (1880-1944), who eventually committed suicide.

He inherited Newtown Anner from his mother in 1926 and Bestwood Park from his half-brother in 1934, but lived on his capital: Bestwood was sold in 1940, and some 3,000 of the 3,500 acres at Newtown Anner was also dispersed through small sales. After his marriage he lived for a time at Curraghmore (Co. Waterford). Until 1959 his main home was a flat at 90 Piccadilly, London, which he shared with Capt. George Spencer-Churchill. After his wife's death he built a villa at Andraix near Palma in Majorca but occupied it for only seven weeks before giving it to his nephew, Robert Somerset, and returning to Ireland. In 1958 he made Newtown Anner over to his wife's relation, John Silcock, and embarked on another world tour. After returning he divided his time between a service flat in London and staying with his sister's family at Holker Hall (Cumbria), where he eventually settled permanently.

He died at Holker Hall, 2 March 1964, when his title passed to his second cousin, Charles Beauclerk (1915-88), 13th Duke of St. Albans; he was buried at Flookburgh (Lancs) and his will was proved 17 August 1964 (estate £23,885). His wife died at Newtown Anner, 5 August 1953 and was buried at Killaloan; her will was proved 2 January 1954 (estate £3,118).

* Peter Beauclerk-Dewar claimed to have identified one illegitimate child in his book on the family published in 1974.

 

Principal sources

Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 2003, pp. 3459-64; P. Beauclerk Dewar & D. Adamson, The house of Nell Gwyn, 1974; B. Masters, The Dukes, 3rd edn., 2001, pp. 72-77, 94-101; ODNB biography of 1st Duke of St. Albans;

https://dukesandprinces.org/2021/11/14/dukes-of-saint-albans/; 

Location of archives

Beauclerk family, Dukes of St. Albans: Redbourne estate deeds and papers, 17th-20th cents [Lincolnshire Archives RED and 2RED]; Bestwood Park estate records, 1785-1841 [Nottingham University Library, BP]; Hanworth estate deeds and papers, 17th-20th cents, legal and family papers [London Metropolitan Archives, 1005; LMA/4245; Acc/0918] 

George Beauclerk, 3rd Duke of St. Albans:  Glassenbury Park estate and household papers, 18th century [Kent Archives Centre, U410]

Coat of arms

Quarterly, 1st and 4th grand quarters, the arms of Charles II (1st and 4th, France and England quarterly, 2nd Scotland, 3rd, Ireland) all over a sinister baton gules, charged with three roses argent, barbed and seeded proper; 2nd and 3rd, quarterly, gules and or, in the first quarter a mullet argent.

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide further information about the reputed illegitimate daughter of the 9th Duke and her descendants?
• Can anyone provide photographs or portraits of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
• If anyone can offer further information or corrections to any part of this article I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from current owners or the descendants of families associated with a property who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 25 March and updated 28 March 2022.