(630) Bingham of Castlebar House and Laleham House, baronets and Earls of Lucan

Bingham, Earls of Lucan

In the later 16th century, several of the sons of Robert Bingham (d. 1561) of Bingham's Melcombe [for whom see my previous post] went to Ireland as soldiers and military governors in Queen Elizabeth's army. One of these sons, Sir John Bingham (fl. 1609) seems to have obtained a grant of lands at Castlebar (Co. Mayo), and in 1609 had a licence for a weekly market there and also an annual fair. In 1613 the town obtained a measure of self-government as an incorporated borough, and also the right to return two members to the Irish parliament, although in practice the parliamentary seats were controlled by the Binghams. Sir John died without issue and his Mayo property passed to his nephew, Sir Henry Bingham (1573-1659), 1st bt., the son of his brother Sir George Bingham, with whom the genealogy below begins. Sir Henry Bingham was, like his uncle, a soldier in the king's service in Ireland, and in 1634 he was rewarded with a baronetcy. He was succeeded at Castlebar by his only son, Sir George Bingham (c.1625-82), 2nd bt., who evidently spent at least some time in England, as his second and third marriages took place there. His only known children were two sons, by his first and third marriages, who succeeded him in turn as Sir Henry Bingham (1654-1714), 3rd bt., and Sir George Bingham (d. c.1730), 4th bt.  The 3rd baronet, who was childless, was educated at the Middle Temple and was the first of the family to sit in the Irish parliament for Co. Mayo, rather than for Castlebar. Sir George was an officer in the Jacobite army during the Williamite wars of 1689-91, but deserted at the decisive Battle of Aughrim in 1691. He inherited Castlebar on his brother's death in 1714, but seems never to have entered parliament or held other local public office, whereas most heads of the family served their turn as High Sheriff, if not as Governor, of Co. Mayo. He seems to have died in about 1730, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir John Bingham (1696-1749), 5th bt., who was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and the Middle Temple, and played a full part in public life in Co. Mayo. Before 1720 he had married Anne Vesey (1698-1761), whose mother Charlotte was the only daughter and heiress of William Sarsfield of Lucan Manor (Co. Dublin) and niece of Patrick Sarsfield (d. 1693), the Jacobite commander who was created Earl of Lucan in the Jacobite peerage in 1691. It was this connection which caused Sir John's son to choose Lucan as a title when he was raised to the peerage in 1776, although the Binghams never owned Lucan Manor, which descended in the Vesey family through a half-brother of Anne Vesey.

Sir John died in 1749 and was succeeded briefly by his eldest son, Sir John Bingham (1728-50), 6th bt., who survived him by less than two years. When he died towards the end of 1750, he was succeeded by his brother, Sir Charles Bingham (1735-99), 7th bt., who is not known to have attend a university but who did undertake a Grand Tour, visiting Rome and Florence in 1755. In 1756 the family's castle at Castlebar was badly damaged by an accidental fire, and although two surviving towers were converted into a temporary residence, it was perhaps after this that he settled in England, maintaining a house in London and also a suburban villa at Wimbledon (Surrey), although he maintained his public appointments in Ireland. He was married in 1760 to Margaret Smith, an accomplished amateur artist from Devon, and over the next ten years they had one son and four daughters. From 1761-76 he was MP for Co. Mayo in the Irish parliament, and although he was instinctively a Tory, his ambition for honours eventually led him to support the administration. For this he was rewarded in 1776 with a peerage, as Baron Lucan, and later, in 1795, with promotion to be 1st Earl of Lucan. In 1778-79 he took his wife, son and two of his daughters for an eighteen-month long tour to Paris, Florence and Rome, where his wife was made an honorary member of the Accademia di S.Luca and his daughters' abilities as artists were also greatly admired.  In 1782-84 he was briefly MP for Northampton to oblige his son-in-law, Lord Althorp, whose family controlled the seats for that borough, but he was not re-elected in 1784 and did not seek another seat. In 1798, shortly before his death, the house at Castlebar was burned down during the engagement known as the 'Battle of Castlebar' when a combined force of French troops and Irish rebels defeated a larger Crown force and declared a Republic of Connaught, which lasted some twelve days before the town was retaken.

In 1790s, Lord Lucan fell out with his only son, Richard Bingham (1764-1839), later 2nd Earl of Lucan, presumably over the latter's scandalous elopement with Elizabeth Howard, who was divorced by her husband (a future Duke of Norfolk) in consequence and subsequently married Richard. The couple began their married life 'in close retirement' in rented accommodation at Washingley Hall (Hunts), but in about 1804 they separated. Richard had bought a small property - some 25 acres - at Laleham (Middx, but now Surrey) on the River Thames, where he commissioned a new house from the rising young architect, John Buonarotti Papworth (1775-1847), which was completed by 1806. It was later altered twice by Papworth, in the 1820s for the 2nd Earl and in 1839 for his son. In the 1820s, the Earl also obtained designs from Papworth for a plainer house at Castlebar, although it is not clear that the house eventually built there was to Papworth's designs. 

The heir to Laleham and Castlebar was George Charles Bingham (1800-88), 3rd Earl of Lucan, who embarked on a military career in 1816, and who had, within ten years, purchased his way to a lieutenant-colonelcy. Despite his promotion not having been on merit, he was regarded as an effective soldier. From 1837 he was on half-pay for nearly twenty years, but continued to be promoted in line with his seniority, and he came out of retirement in 1854 as a Major-General to command a cavalry division in the Crimean War. He was one of the commanders responsible for the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava, and was blamed by the overall commander of British forces, Lord Raglan, for this debâcle and sent home, but he made a spirited defence of his actions in a speech in the House of Lords which largely retrieved his reputation. His ruthlessness as a landlord at the time of the famine, and his stubborn, hectoring manner, ensured that he was widely hated, and after some twenty years of marriage his wife left him in about 1850. He died in 1888, by which time he was a Field Marshal, and was succeeded by his eldest child, George Bingham (1830-1914), 4th Earl of Lucan. A soldier like his father, the 4th Earl continued to live chiefly in England and to visit his Irish estates occasionally, but he ran into debts. He made an arrangement with his creditors in 1898 but in 1900 he handed over the family estates to his eldest son, Brig-Gen. George Charles Bingham (1860-1949), later the 5th Earl of Lucan. The 5th Earl lived at Laleham in the early 20th century, was MP for Chertsey, 1904-06, and fought in the First World War as Colonel of the London Rifle Volunteers. After the death of his father in 1914 he was elected as a representative Irish peer with a seat in the House of Lords, and in 1934, after serving two terms as a Government whip, he was rewarded with a UK peerage as Baron Bingham, so that he and his successors could sit in the House of Lords as of right. In the 1920s he transferred his estates to the Lucan Estate Co., which sold Castlebar in 1924, after the Irish civil war, and Laleham House in 1928. These measures, together with his years of service in parliament and the armed forces, retrieved the family's fortunes, and he was worth over £130,000 at his death in 1949. His eldest son and successor, Col. George Charles Patrick Bingham (1898-1964), 6th Earl of Lucan, was a socialist in politics, and became a junior member of the Attlee Government and later an opposition whip in the House of Lords. He died comparatively young, and was succeeded by his son, John Bingham (b. 1934), 7th Earl of Lucan, who placed himself at the centre of one of the most famous unsolved criminal cases of the 20th century when he mysteriously disappeared after the murder of his children's nanny and the attempted murder of his estranged wife in 1974. Despite numerous reported but unproven sightings from around the world over the following years, Lord Lucan was never traced, and in 2016 the High Court ruled that his death could be presumed, allowing his son, George Bingham (b. 1967) to succeed as 8th Earl of Lucan in the Irish peerage and 4th Baron Bingham in the UK peerage.

Castlebar House, Co. Mayo

The original home of the Bingham family at Castlebar was a castle which was reported as 'burned to the ground' with all the pictures, furniture and plate 'to the amount of £50,000' after an accidental fire in November 1756. All that remained of it when Dr Beaufort visited it in 1787 were 'two great round towers', one of which had had rooms added to it on either side of a long corridor by the 1st Earl of Lucan. Dr. Beaufort described them as 'tolerably good and convenient, furnished with some pictures of which a few have merit', though he regarded the furnishing as far from elegant and was clearly not impressed with the 'large heavy chimneypiece of black marble' in one of the rooms.

The Lawn, Castlebar, in the 1920s.

This adequate if somewhat makeshift residence was destroyed in the Rebellion of 1798 and eventually replaced, probably in the 1820s, by a small three-by-five bay house with no pretensions to be a nobleman's seat, although it was set in a fine position high above the river in a verdant park studded with large trees. J.B. Papworth is known to have supplied designs for it at the same time as he was altering Laleham House for the 2nd Earl, but whether he designed the building as constructed is uncertain. The function of this house, known as The Lawn, was no doubt to be an occasional residence on their Irish estate for a family which increasingly spent most of its time in England. The house did, however, possess a large drawing room, which enabled them to entertain the neighbourhood when they did come to Ireland.

The Lawn, Castlebar, as rebuilt after the fire in the 1930s, with later school additions.

The family sold the house after the Irish Civil War, in 1924, and it became a convent school. An accidental fire gutted the house in the 1930s, but it was restored and reopened. An extremely ugly addition was built to the right of the entrance front, on the site of the former service wing, probably in the 1950s or 1960s.

Descent: granted c.1600 to Sir John Bingham, kt. (fl. 1609); to nephew, Sir Henry Bingham (1573-1659), 1st bt.; to son, Sir George Bingham (c.1625-82), 2nd bt.; to son, Sir Henry Bingham (1654-1714), 3rd bt.; to half-brother, Sir George Bingham (d. c.1730), 4th bt.; to son, Sir John Bingham (1696-1749), 5th bt.; to son, Sir John Bingham (1728-50), 6th bt.; to brother, Sir Charles Bingham (1735-99), 7th bt., 1st Baron Lucan and 1st Earl of Lucan; to son, Richard Bingham (1764-1839), 2nd Earl of Lucan; to son, Field-Marshal George Charles Bingham (1800-88), 3rd Earl of Lucan; to son, George Bingham (1830-1914), 4th Earl of Lucan; handed over estates to son, Brig-Gen. George Charles Bingham (1860-1949), 5th Earl of Lucan; transferred to Lucan Estates Co., which sold 1924...

Laleham House (later Laleham Abbey), Middlesex

A compact stuccoed Greek Revival house, of two storeys over a basement, designed by J.B. Papworth in 1803-06 for the 2nd Earl of Lucan and later extended and remodelled by the same architect in c.1824-28 and in 1839, when the 3rd Earl was his client. The initial building was one of Papworth's first independent commissions, and his drawings for the project are now at the Royal Institute of British Architects. The west (entrance) front has long windows in simple moulded frames, a central tripartite window and a Greek key frieze. As first built there was a shallow Greek Doric porch, but the present porch dates from 1828, when it was doubled in depth and given a plain pedimented and open upper storey (since removed). The five-bay south front now has a ground-floor colonnade of square piers, also dating from 1828. 

Laleham House: drawing by J.B. Papworth for the remodelling of the house in 1839. Image: RIBA PB1328/PAP[207](62)

Laleham House: the entrance front in recent years.

Papworth's drawings chart the evolution of the plan from an unexciting triple-pile arrangement to something much more dramatic, with a sequence of three spaces forming the central pile comprising a transverse oval for the entrance hall; a dramatic top-lit D-shaped staircase hall; and an oval dining room behind a bow window on the east front. The interior was largely redecorated in the 1820s remodelling, when screens of black and white marble Ionic columns were introduced into the entrance hall to separate the central vaulted vestibule from half-octagonal lobbies. The staircase hall has a cantilevered staircase and a plaster frieze of Alexander's triumpal entry into Babylon, copied from Thorvaldsen's frieze of 1812 in the Palazzo Quirinale in Rome, so this must date from the 1820s or 1830s; the circular lantern over the staircase dates from 1839. 

Laleham House: the D-shaped staircase hall with the Thorvaldsen frieze.

The rooms along the south front were the drawing room and library, and the latter was redecorated in 1824 and given a top-lit eastern vestibule behind a screen of columns in 1828, decorated with roundels of Night and Day by Thorvaldsen, which were commissioned by the 2nd Earl in 1816. In 1839, the library vestibule was remodelled as an elaborate Ionic-columned aedicule as part of alterations which attached a large conservatory to this south-east corner of the house, an L-shaped service wing of yellow brick to the north-east corner, and a stable court with windows in giant round arches and entrance through a central pavilion with a square cupola.

Laleham House: the cottage orné lodge. Image: Patricia Philpott/Historic England.

In 1932, the house became a convent school and it remained so until 1979, when it was sold to Barratt Developments and converted into flats; the decoration of the hall, staircase and library largely survive. The grounds, which originally extended to some 23 acres but were not part of a larger estate, run down to the River Thames. At the north end of the site is a cottage orné lodge, now known as The Thatched Cottage. It was very probably designed by Papworth, perhaps in the 1820s, although no drawings survive for it. It has a thatched roof and a thatched veranda with rustic tree trunk supports, moulded Tudor chimneys and elaborately carved bargeboards.

Descent: built for Richard Bingham (1764-1839), 2nd Earl of Lucan; to son, George Charles Bingham (1800-88), 3rd Earl of Lucan; to son, George Bingham (1830-1914), 4th Earl of Lucan; handed over 1900 to son, George Charles Bingham (1860-1949), who transferred it to the Lucan Estates Co. in 1925; sold 1928 to John Reginald Lopes Yarde-Buller, 3rd Baron Churston (1873-1930); to son, Richard Yarde-Buller, 4th Baron Churston; sold to Sisters of St Peter the Apostle, Westminster; sold 1981 for conversion into flats. The house was let from 1829 to the exiled Queen Maria II of Portugal, and in 1915 to the Grand Duke Michael of Russia.

Bingham family, baronets and Earls of Lucan

Bingham, Sir George (d. 1599), kt. Fourth son of Robert Bingham (d. 1561) [for whom see my earlier post on the Binghams of Bingham's Melcombe] and his wife Alice, daughter of Thomas Coker of Mappowder (Dorset). A soldier in Ireland who went to Connaught after his brother's appointment as Governor in 1584; sheriff of Clare, 1584-85; acting Governor of Connaught in his brother's absence, 1587-88; military governor of Co. Sligo, 1596. He married, 1569, Cecily (d. 1598), daughter of Robert Martyn of Athelhampton (Dorset), and had issue:

(1) Sir Henry Bingham (1573-1659), 1st bt. (q.v.);

(2) John Bingham [for whom see my future post on the Bingham family, Barons Clanmorris].

He died in Dublin and was buried in Christ Church Cathedral there, 1599. His wife died in 1598.

Bingham, Sir Henry (1573-1659), 1st bt. Elder son of Sir George Bingham (d. 1599), kt., and his wife Cecily, daughter of Robert Martyn of Athelhampton House (Dorset), baptised at Milton Abbas (Dorset), 1573. High Sheriff of Co. Galway, 1607, and of Co. Mayo, 1639; MP for Castlebar, 1634-36 and 1639-48. He was serving an an officer in the king's army in Ireland when he was created a baronet of Nova Scotia, 7 June 1634. His baronetcy would have come with a grant of 16,000 acres in Nova Scotia, but he seems never to have had seizin of this property. He married Catherine (d. c.1674), daughter of John Byrne of Ballinclough, and had issue (possibly among others):

(1) Sir George Bingham (c.1625-82), 2nd bt. (q.v.);

(2) Alice Bingham; married Sir George Browne (1627-98), 2nd bt. of The Neale (Co. Mayo), and had issue two sons and three daughters.

He inherited the Castlebar (Co. Mayo) estate from his uncle, Sir John Bingham, after 1609.

He died before 27 January 1658/9. His widow died between 31 October 1673 and 21 July 1674.

Bingham, Sir George (c.1625-82), 2nd bt. Only recorded son of Sir Henry Bingham (1573-1659), 1st bt., and his wife Catherine, daughter of John Byrne of Ballinclough, born about 1625. MP for Castlebar, 1661-66; High Sheriff of Co. Mayo, 1662-63 and 1678-79; custos rotulorum for Co. Mayo, 1663. He succeeded his father as 2nd baronet in January 1658/9. He married 1st, [forename unknown] Palmer; 2nd, 6 June 1661 at St Benet, Paul's Wharf, London, Anne Pargiter (c.1630-61), widow; and 3rd, 14 December 1661 at Hadlow (Kent), Rebecca (b. c.1637), second daughter of Sir William Middleton (1603-52), 2nd bt., and had issue:

(1.1) Sir Henry Bingham (1654-1714), 3rd bt. (q.v.);

(3.1) Sir George Bingham (d. c.1730), 4th bt. (q.v.).

He inherited Castlebar from his father in 1659.

He died by 1 June 1682. His first wife's died in or before 1661. His second wife died without issue within a few weeks of their marriage, between June and September 1661; administration of her goods was granted 11 September 1661. His third wife's date of death is unknown.

Bingham, Sir Henry (1654-1714), 3rd bt. Only son of Sir George Bingham (c.1625-82), 2nd bt., and his first wife, born 1654. Educated at the Middle Temple (admitted 1673). Tory MP for County Mayo, 1692-93, 1695-99, 1703-14; High Sheriff of Co. Mayo, 1684-85, 1694; Custos Rotulorum for Co. Mayo, 1682. He succeeded his father as 3rd baronet in May 1682. He married 1st, 1678 (licence 1 February 1677/8), Jane, daughter of Sir Thomas Cuffe, and 2nd, Letitia alias Lettice (d. 1728), daughter of Charles Bingham of Newbrook (Co. Mayo), but had no surviving male issue.

He inherited Castlebar from his father in 1682 and augmented the estate by the purchase of 3,043 acres in Co. Mayo from the Commissioners for the sale of forfeited estates in 1702/3. In 1713 his income was estimated at £600 p.a.

He died in 1714 and was buried at Castlebar, where he is commemorated by a monument which says he died aged 60; his will was proved in Dublin, 6 October 1714. His first wife's date of death is unknown. His widow died in 1728, when her will was proved.

Sir George Bingham, 4th bt. 

Bingham, Sir George (d. c.1730), 4th bt. Only son of Sir George Bingham (d. 1682), 2nd bt., and his third wife, Rebecca, daughter of Sir William Middleton, 2nd bt., born in or after 1662. A Jacobite, who was an officer in the army of King James II, but deserted at the Battle of Aughrim, 1691. He succeeded his half-brother as 4th baronet in 1714. He married 1st, 1688, Mary Scott, and 2nd, Phoebe Hawkins, and had issue:

(1.1) Sir John Bingham (1696-1749), 5th bt. (q.v.);

(1.2) Rebecca Bingham (fl. 1714);

(1.3) Henrietta Bingham (fl. 1722); married, 1722, as his first wife, John Ormsby (d. c.1745) of Cloghans (Co. Mayo); died before 1732;

(1.4) Lettice Bingham (fl. 1714);

(1.5) George Bingham; probably died young;

(1.6) Henry Bingham (b. c.1706; fl. 1725); educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1725);

(2.1) George Bingham.

He inherited Castlebar on the death of his half-brother in 1714.

He died about 1730. His first wife died after 1698. His second wife's date of death is unknown. 

Sir John Bingham, 5th bt.,
attib. to Robert Hunter* 

Bingham, Sir John (1696-1749), 5th bt. Eldest son of Sir George Bingham (fl. 1714), 4th bt., and his first wife, Mary Scott, born at Castle Adair (Co. Mayo), 1696. Educated privately at Galway and at Trinity College, Dublin  (admitted 1713) and the Middle Temple (admitted 1717). Governor of Co. Mayo, 1727-49; MP for Co. Mayo, 1727-49; High Sheriff of Co. Mayo, 1721; a trustee of the Linen Board for Munster, 1732-49; Governor of the Co. Mayo Workhouse, 1733-49; a commissioner of the Tillage Act for Connaught, 1735, 1739-49. He succeeded his father as 5th baronet in about 1730. He married, before 1720, Anne (1698-1761), daughter of Agmondesham Vesey (d. 1738) of Lucan Manor (Co. Dublin), and had issue:

(1) Jane Bingham (d. 1746), eldest daughter; married, 1 November 1745, as his first wife, Rt. Hon. Thomas Bermingham (1717-99), later 15/19th Baron Athenry and 1st Earl of Louth, MP for Co. Galway, 1745-50, but had no issue; died 1746;

(2) Mary Bingham (d. c.1754); married 1st, Capt. Hugh Montgomery (d. 1743); and 2nd, 11 September 1744 at St Anne, Dublin, Vesey Colclough (d. 1745) of Mochary, son of Caesar Colclough MP (1696-1766), and had issue one son, born posthumously; probably the person of this name whose will was disputed in 1754;

(3) Sir John Bingham (1728-50), 6th bt. (q.v.);

(5) Sir Charles Bingham (1735-99), 7th bt., 1st Baron and 1st Earl of Lucan (q.v.);

(4) George Bingham (d. 1752); said to have been an officer in the 23rd Foot (Welsh Fusiliers) (Lt., 1745; Capt.), and to have died unmarried at Dolmin (Germany), 10 October 1752, but these dates seem incompatible with his having been born after 1735; 

(6) Charlotte Bingham; died unmarried;

(7) Henrietta Bingham; died unmarried;

(8) Anne Bingham (d. 1782); married, 28 February 1756, Croasdaile Miller (d. 1783) of Millford (Co. Mayo), High Sheriff of Co. Mayo, 1750, 1756, and had issue three sons and two daughters; died 1782.

He inherited Castlebar from his father in about 1730.

He died 25 July 1749** and was buried at Castlebar. His widow died in February 1761.

* This painting is normally identified as Sir John Bingham (1696-1749), 5th bt., but I suspect it may actually be of his son, Sir John Bingham (1728-50), 6th bt. as the sitte.r appears to be a young man, though the powdered wig makes him look older. The attributed artist's earliest work dates from 1748, when the 5th baronet would have been nearly fifty and his son about 20.

** Some sources give the date as 21 September 1749, but contemporary newspaper evidence shows this is the correct date.

Bingham, Sir John (1728-50), 6th bt. Elder son of Sir John Bingham (1696-1749), 5th bt., and his wife Anne, daughter of Agmondesham Vesey of Lucan (Co. Dublin), born before 29 November 1728. MP for Co. Mayo, 1749-50. He is said to have set aside much of his inheritance to repay debts owed by his parents for which he was not liable. He succeeded his father as 6th baronet, 25 July 1749. He was unmarried and without issue.

He inherited Castlebar from his father in 1749.

He died 27 November 1750.

1st Earl of Lucan
Image: National Portrait Gallery

Bingham, Sir Charles (1735-99), 7th bt., 1st Baron Lucan and 1st Earl of Lucan. Second son of Sir John Bingham (1696-1749), 5th bt., and his wife Anne, daughter of Agmondesham Vesey of Lucan (Co. Dublin), born 22 September 1735. Education unknown, but he did undertake a Grand Tour in 1755, when he is known to have visited Florence and Rome. High Sheriff of Co. Mayo, 1756. In 1761 he stood for Parliament in Castlebar (where he controlled both seats) and Co. Mayo, and having been elected for both, chose to sit for the county, which he represented in the Irish parliament 1761-76. Initially a Tory (there was a strong Jacobite tradition in his mother's family), his desire for a place on the Irish privy council led him into support of the viceroy by the mid 1770s, for which he was rewarded with a peerage. Since he was not disabled by his Irish peerage from sitting in the UK House of Commons, his connection with the Spencers led to him being brought in as a stopgap to maintain the Spencer interest as Whig MP for Northampton in the UK Parliament, 1782-84, but he was unpopular with the townspeople and was defeated at the 1784 election. He was Governor of Co. Mayo, 1756-63 and joint Governor, 1766-98, and was an enthusiastic volunteer soldier. He wrote An essay on the use and necessity of establishing a militia in Ireland (1767), and he served as Colonel of the Mayo Legion volunteers and an officer in the Longford (Clanricarde) Cavalry (2nd Lt., 1796). He was a trustee of the Linen Board for Ulster, 1762-99. He succeeded his brother as 7th baronet, 27 November 1750, and was raised to the peerage as Baron Lucan of Castlebar, 24 July 1776, before being further created Earl of Lucan, 1 October 1795. He married, 25 August 1760 at Bath (Som.), with a portion of £20,000, Margaret (d. 1814), an accomplished amateur artist, daughter and co-heir of James Smyth MP of Canonsleigh (Devon) and St Audries (Som.), and had issue:

(1) Lady Lavinia Bingham (1762-1831), born at Castlebar, 27 July 1762; 'a strong-minded and strong-willed woman of great erudition and charm [who became] perhaps the pre-eminent hostess in London society' (ODNB), but who was also capable of being moody, vindictive, hypocritical and jealous; she was also an amateur artist of considerable ability, some of whose drawings were professionally engraved; she married, 6 March 1781 by archbishop's special licence, at her father's house in Charles St. in the parish of St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Rt Hon. George John Spencer (1758-1834), Viscount Althorp and later 2nd Earl Spencer, and had issue six sons and three daughters; died 8 June 1831 and was buried in the Spencer family vault at Great Brington (Northants);

(2) Richard Bingham (1764-1839), 2nd Earl of Lucan (q.v.);

(3) Hon. Louisa Bingham (1765-84), born in late 1765; died unmarried, and was buried at Wimbledon, 3 June 1784;

(4) Lady Anne Bingham (c.1767-1840), born about 1767; died unmarried, 6 March and was buried at Richmond (Surrey), 14 March 1840; will proved in the PCC, 7 April 1840;

(5) Lady Eleanor alias Margaret Bingham (c.1768-1839), born about 1768; married, c.1785, Thomas Lindsay (c.1760-1810) of Hollymount House (Co. Mayo), and had issue at least one daughter; died at Portsea (Hants), 27 May 1839.

He inherited Castlebar from his brother in 1752, but lived chiefly at his town house in London and at Oakholm on the south side of Wimbledon Common (Surrey).

He died 29 March 1799; his will was proved 17 April 1799. His widow died at her house in London, 27 February 1814, and was buried at Wimbledon, where she is commemorated by a monument; administration of her goods was granted in March 1814 and August 1842.

2nd Earl of Lucan, 1819

Bingham, Richard (1764-1839), 2nd Earl of Lucan. Only son of Sir Charles Bingham (1735-99), 7th bt., 1st Baron Lucan and 1st Earl of Lucan, and his wife Margaret, daughter of James Smith of Canonsleigh (Devon) and St. Audries (Som.), born 4 or 6 December 1764. Educated at Westminster, Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1781) and Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1784). MP for St Albans, 1790-1800, on the interest of his brother-in-law, Earl Spencer. He was styled Lord Bingham from 1795 until he succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Lucan, 29 March 1799, and sat in the House of Lords as a representative Irish Peer, 1801-39. In 1800, when the Irish Parliament was abolished with the passing of the Act of Union, he received £15,000 compensation for the disenfranchisement of the borough of Castlelbar. He was an officer of the Royal Spelthorne Legion (Maj., 1803). In 1793 he eloped to Wales with Elizabeth (1770-1819), third daughter and co-heir of Henry Belasyse (1743-1802), 2nd Earl Fauconberg of Newburgh Priory (Yorks NR) and wife of Bernard Edward Howard, later 12th Duke of Norfolk, who divorced her on his account in May 1794 and secured £1,000 in damages for 'criminal conversation'. He and Elizabeth were married, 26 May 1794 at St Marylebone (Middx), and then lived ‘in close retirement’ with her at Washingley Hall (Hunts) until 1799, though by 1804 the couple had separated. They had issue:

(1) Lady Elizabeth Bingham (1794-1838), born 16 July and baptised at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), 13 August 1794; married, 27 May 1815 at St James, Piccadilly, as his first wife, George Granville Venables-Harcourt (later Vernon-Harcourt and Harcourt) (1785-1861), MP for Lichfield, 1806-31 and Oxfordshire, 1831-61, and had issue one daughter (later the wife of the 6th Earl of Abingdon); died in Milan (Italy) 9 September 1838 where she was initially buried, but her body was returned to England and reburied at Stanton Harcourt (Oxon), 25 November 1838;

(2) Lady Charlotte Bingham (1796-1805), born 28 February and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 24 March 1796; died young, 16 March, and was buried at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 20 March 1805;

(3) Lady Anne Bingham (1797-1850), born 22 February and baptised at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster, 21 March 1797; married, 18 July 1816 at the British embassy in Paris (France), Alexander Murray (1789-1845) of Broughton (Wigtowns.), MP for Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, 1838-45, but had no issue; died 28 October 1850;

(4) Lady Louisa Bingham (1798-1882), born 1 March and baptised at St Marylebone (Middx), 8 April 1798; married, 22 August 1817 at British embassy in Paris, Francis Wemyss-Charteris-Douglas (1795-1883), 9th Earl of Wemyss and 5th Earl of March, and had issue four sons and three daughters; died 16 April 1882;

(5) Lady Georgiana Bingham (1799-1849), born 19 April 1799; married, 15 June 1821 at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster, Charles Nevill (1791-1848) of Nevill Holt Hall (Northants), and had issue three sons and one daughter; died at Livorno (Italy), 1 July 1849.

(6) George Charles Bingham (1800-88), 3rd Earl of Lucan (q.v.);

(7) Hon. Richard Camden Bingham (1801-72), born 2 May and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 18 June 1801; diplomat who served as Secretary of Legation, Bavaria, 1831-1839; Secretary of Legation, Sardinia-Piedmont, 1839-52; Secretary of Legation, Portugal, 1852; Secretary of Legation, Two Sicilies, 1852; Charge d’Affaires, Venenzuela, 1852-1858; married, 11 December 1848 (sep. c.1865), at St Dunstan-in-the-West, London, Maria, daughter of Charles Thomas, but had no issue; in old age he became eccentric and had no fixed address, but took to carrying a good deal of plate and jewellery about with him; he died, 23 January 1872, at the home of a female friend who was subsequently prosecuted for the theft of some of his property; he died intestate and administration of his goods was granted to his widow.

He inherited the Castlebar estate from his father in 1799. In 1803 he purchased land at Laleham (Middx) and built Laleham House to the designs of J.B. Papworth, which he further altered in c.1824-29, when he also built a small new house at Castlebar. He let Laleham from 1829. After their separation, his wife lived with her sister Anne at Stowlangtoft Hall (Suffk) and then with another sister, Charlotte, at Newburgh Priory (Yorks NR); she also owned or rented Rose Hill Cottage at Wargrave (Berks), which was designed by Robert Lugar.

He died 30 June 1839 and was buried at Laleham; his will was proved in the PCC, 12 September 1839. His estranged wife died in Paris, 24 March 1819.

3rd Earl of Lucan

Bingham, Field Marshal George Charles (1800-88), 3rd Earl of Lucan. Elder son of George Charles Bingham (1764-1839), 2nd Earl of Lucan, and his wife Elizabeth, third daughter and co-heir of Henry Belasyse, 3rd Earl Fauconberg of Newburgh Priory (Yorks NR) and formerly wife of Bernard Howard (later 12th Duke of Norfolk), born 16 April and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 5 June 1800. Educated at Westminster School. An officer in the army (Ensign, 1816; Lt., 1818; Capt., 1822; Maj., 1825; Lt-Col., 1826; Col., 1841; Maj-Gen., 1851; Lt-Gen., 1858; Gen., 1865; Field Marshal, 1887), whose progression to Lt-Col. was achieved by purchase, although he was regarded as an effective officer; he was on half-pay from 1837-54 but returned to active soldiering to command a cavalry division in the Crimean War, being appointed without reference to the overall commander, Lord Raglan. He was one of the commanders responsible for the infamous 'Charge of the Light Brigade' at the Battle of Balaclava in 1854, where he was himself wounded. He was blamed by Lord Raglan for the heavy losses sustained by the Light Brigade and ordered to return to England, where he defended himself in a speech to the House of Lords which seems to have been largely successful in restoring his reputation. He was Colonel of the 8th Hussars, 1855-65 and 1st Life Guards, 1865-88. Tory MP for Co. Mayo, 1826-30, and sat in the House of Lords as a representative Irish peer, 1840-88. He held several foreign orders, being a Chevallier of the French Legion d'honneur; a knight 1st class of the Ottoman Order of Medjidie; and a Knight 2nd class of the Russian Order of St. Anne (which he was awarded after holding a staff appointment with the Russian army in Bulgaria in 1826). He succeeded his father as 3rd Earl of Lucan, 30 June 1839. He was Lord Lieutenant of Co. Mayo, 1845-88 and Gold Stick in Waiting, 1886-88. He gained a reputation as a ruthless landlord during the Great Famine of the 1840s in Ireland, when he attempted to modernize the family holdings by creating large farms using new agricultural techniques and machinery; he also evicted many tenants and pulled down their houses. Lucan also clashed with his land agent, accusing him of corruption and taking him to court for alleged poaching, where his uncontrolled outbursts during the trial led to his being removed from the bench of magistrates. His stubbornness and hectoring manner caused widespread offence and led to the breakdown of his marriage. He married, 21 February 1829 (sep. c.1850), Anne (1809-77), seventh daughter of Robert Brudenell, 6th Earl of Cardigan, and had issue:

(1) George Bingham (1830-1914), 4th Earl of Lucan (q.v.);

(2) Lady Augusta Bingham (1832-88), born 7 February 1832; married, 10 September 1853, as his first wife, her cousin, Henry Gerald Sturt MP (1825-1904), later 1st Baron Alington, and had issue one son and two daughters; died 3 July 1888 and was buried at Cranbourne (Dorset);

(3) Lady Elizabeth Bingham (1833-57), baptised at St Mary, Bryanston Sq, St Marylebone, 10 July 1833; died unmarried at Pau (France), 5 November 1857;

(4) Lady Lavinia Bingham (1835-64), born 2 May and baptised at Laleham, 7 June 1835; married, 10 April 1856 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Charles Stewart Hardinge (1822-94), 2nd Viscount Hardinge, and had issue five sons and three daughters; died 15 September 1864 and was buried at Fordcombe (Kent);

(5) Lady Anne Sarah Bingham (1840-55), baptised at Laleham, 3 May 1840; died young, 26 August 1855 and was buried at Laleham;

(6) Rear-Adm. the Hon. Richard Bingham (1847-1924), born 6 January and baptised at Laleham, 28 March 1847; joined the Royal Navy, 1860 (Lt., 1869; Cdr., 1884; Capt., 1891; retired 1897; Rear-Adm., 1904); married 1st, 26 September 1877 at St Michael, Chester Sq., Westminster, Mary Elizabeth (c.1841-1908), youngest daughter of Edward Henry Cole (d. 1858) of Stoke Lyne (Oxon), and had issue two daughters; married 2nd, 30 April 1914 at Holy Trinity, Brompton (Middx), Ida Louisa (1871-1925), daughter of Charles Arthur Galton, Madras civil servant; died following an operation, 12 November 1924 and was buried at Hove Cemetery (Sussex); his will was proved 19 December 1924 (estate £11,133).

He inherited Castlebar House and Laleham House from his father in 1839, and made additions to the latter soon afterwards. After their separation, his wife lived at Sion House, Richmond (Surrey).

He died in London, 10 November 1888, and was buried at Laleham; his will was proved 23 January 1889 (effects £59,918). His wife died 2 April 1877; administration of her goods was granted 9 July 1877 (effects under £600).

4th Earl of Lucan
Image: National Portrait Gallery. 

Bingham, George (1830-1914), 4th Earl of Lucan. Elder son of Field Marshal George Charles Bingham (1800-88), 3rd Earl of Lucan, and his wife Anne, daughter of Robert Brudenell, 6th Earl of Cardigan, born 8 May and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 1 June 1830. Educated at Rugby. An officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1848; Ensign & Lt., 1851; Lt. & Capt., 1854; Brev-Maj., 1855; Capt. & Lt-Col., 1859; retired 1860); ADC to his father in the Crimean War. Conservative MP for Co. Mayo, 1865-74. Vice-Adm. of Connaught, 1889; Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of Co. Mayo, 1901-14; JP and County Alderman for Middlesex, 1888-1914. He was styled Lord Bingham from 1839 until he succeeded his father as 4th Earl of Lucan, 10 November 1888. He sat in the House of Lords as a representative Irish peer, 1889-1914 and was made a Knight of St Patrick, 1898. He was also a Chevallier of the Legion d'honneur and was awarded the Turkish Order of Medjidie (5th class), 1857. He came perilously close to bankruptcy in 1898, when he made an arrangement with his creditors, and again in 1913, and he handed his estates over to his eldest son in 1900. He married, 17 November 1859 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Lady Cecilia Catherine (1838-1910), fifth and youngest daughter of Charles Gordon Lennox (1791-1860), 5th Duke of Richmond, and had issue:

(1) Brig-Gen. George Charles Bingham (1860-1949), 5th Earl of Lucan (q.v.);

(2) Maj-Gen. the Hon. Sir Cecil Edward Bingham (1861-1934), kt., born 7 December 1861; educated at Wellington; an officer in the army (Lt., 1882; Capt., 1892; Maj., 1898; Lt-Col., 1906; Col.; Brig-Gen., 1910; Maj-Gen., 1915; retired 1920), who served in the Boer War and First World War, when he commanded the Cavalry Corps, 1915-18 (mentioned in despatches four times and knighted (KCMG)); ADC to HRH the Duke of Connaught on his Indian tour, 1903; a Commander of the Legion d'honneur; he married 1st, 28 June 1884 at All Saints, Margaret St., St Marylebone (Middx), Rose Ellinor (1863-1908), daughter of James Alexander Guthrie of Craigie (Angus), banker, and had issue two sons and one daughter; married 2nd, 3 February 1911 at Christ Church, Down St., Mayfair, Westminster, Alys Elizabeth (1870-1953), daughter of Col. Henry Montgomery Carr of Louisville, Kentucky (USA) and widow of Samuel Sloan Chauncey of New York (USA); died 31 May 1934 and was buried at Laleham; will proved 30 June 1934 (estate £9,934);

(3) Maj-Gen. the Hon. Sir Francis Richard Bingham (1863-1935), kt., born 5 July and baptised at St Marylebone, 5 August 1863; an officer in the Royal Artillery (Lt., 1883; Capt., 1892; Maj., Lt-Col., 1910; Col., 1913; Brig-Gen., 1915; Maj-Gen, 1917); ADC to Commander-in-Chief, Madras, 1893-95, 1896-98; Chief Instructor, School of Gunnery, 1911-13; War Office, 1913-16 (Asst Director, 1913-15; Deputy Director, 1915-16); member of council, Ministry of Munitions, 1916-19; Chief of British Section at Military Inter-Allied Control Commission for Germany, 1919-24; Lt-Governor of Jersey, 1924-29; Hon. Col. of Royal Militia of Jersey, 1925; JP for Buckinghamshire, 1932; appointed KCB and KCMG and held various foreign orders and decorations; married, 10 June 1896 at Ootacamund (India), Kathleen (1870-1963), daughter of Gen. Sir Charles Mansfield Clarke (1839-1932), 3rd bt., of Dunham Lodge (Norfk), and had issue one son; died 5 November 1935 and was buried at Burnham (Bucks); will proved 30 December 1935 (estate £7,819);

(4) Hon. Alexander Frederic Bingham (1864-1909), born 3 August and baptised at St Marylebone, 29 August 1864; joined mercantile marine (2nd mate, 1884; master mariner, 1890); married, 19 September 1894 at Christ Church, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Olwin Lavinia Truscott (d. 1904), a professional singer, daughter of John Leslie, but had no issue; died 26 May 1909; administration of goods granted to his eldest brother, 5 August 1915 (estate £1,553);

(5) Hon. Albert Edward Bingham (1866-1941), born 30 June and baptised (when the Prince of Wales stood sponsor) at St Marylebone, 9 August 1866; stockbroker with Percy G. Belfour & Co. from 1889; received into the Roman Catholic church, 1898; emigrated to southern Africa in 1914; married, 3 September 1892 at St Giles-in-the-Fields, Holborn (Middx), Christine Graham (1865-1966), daughter of Archibald Smith, but had no issue; died at Cape Town (South Africa), 6 November 1941, and was buried at Plumstead Cemetery, Wynberg, Cape Town, where he is commemorated by a gravestone;

(6) Lady Rosalind Cecilia Caroline Bingham (1869-1958), born 26 February and baptised at St Luke, Westminster, 20 April 1869; granted freedom of city of Belfast, 1935; created DBE, 1936; honorary associate of Order of St. John; awarded honorary degree by Queens University, Belfast, 1944; married, 1 November 1894 at St Paul, Wilton Place, Knightsbridge (Middx), Rt. Hon. James Albert Edward Hamilton KG KP (1869-1953), 3rd Duke of Abercorn, MP for Londonderry, 1900-13 and Governor of Northern Ireland, 1922-45, and had issue two sons and three daughters; died 18 January 1958; administration of goods (with will annexed) granted 28 April 1958 (estate £5,363);

(7) Hon. Lionel Ernest Bingham (1876-1927), born 4 November and baptised privately, 27 November 1876; educated at The Ridgeway College, Wimbledon; an officer in the army (Lt., 1914; Capt., 1917; retired 1919), who served in the First World War (wounded twice); emigrated to Bulawayo (Rhodesia); died unmarried in Bulawayo, 26 July 1927; will proved 1 November 1928 (estate in England, £12).

He inherited Castlebar House and Laleham House from his father in 1888.

He died 5 June 1914 and was buried at Laleham; his will was proved in Dublin, 13 August 1914 (estate £251). His wife died 5 October 1910 and was buried at Laleham.

5th Earl of Lucan in 1943. 
Image: National Portrait Gallery. 

Bingham, Brig-Gen. George Charles (1860-1949), 5th Earl of Lucan. Eldest son of George Bingham (1830-1914), 4th Earl of Lucan, and his wife Lady Cecilia Catherine, youngest daughter of Charles Gordon Lennox (1791-1860), 5th Duke of Richmond, born 13 December 1860 and baptised at All Souls, Langham Place, St Marylebone (Middx), 2 March 1861. Educated at Harrow and Royal Military College, Sandhurst. An officer in the Royal Sussex Light Infantry Militia (2nd Lt., 1878) and later in the Rifle Brigade (2nd Lt., 1881; Lt., 1881; Capt., 1891; retired 1896), who served in Bechuanaland Expedition, 1884-85. He joined the 1st London Rifle Volunteers (Maj., 1900; Lt-Col., 1901; Col., 1912; Hon. Brig-Gen., 1917; retired 1919) and served in the First World War (mentioned in despatches). High Sheriff of Co. Mayo, 1902-03; JP and DL for Middlesex and DL for Co. Mayo; Conservative MP for Chertsey, 1904-06. Chairman of City of London Territorial Army and Allied Forces Association, 1914-41; Colonel of The Artists Rifles; Hon. Col. of 5th Battalion, London Regiment, 1923-46; ADC to HM King George V, 1920-28. He was known by the courtesy title of Lord Bingham from 1888 until he succeeded his father as 5th Earl of Lucan, 5 June 1914, and sat in the House of Lords as a representative Irish peer, 1914-49; he was also created Baron Bingham of Melcombe Bingham in the UK peerage, 26 June 1934, giving him a seat in the Lords in his own right, and he served as a Lord in Waiting (Government Whip in House of Lords), 1920-24, 1924-29 and Captain of the Gentlemen at Arms, Jan-Jun 1929, 1931-40. He was appointed CB, 1919 and KBE, 1920. He married, 30 November 1896, Violet Sylvia Blanche OBE (1877-1972), only daughter of Joseph Spender Clay of Ford Manor (Surrey), and had issue:

(1) Col. George Charles Patrick Bingham (1898-1964), 6th Earl of Lucan, born 24 November 1898 and baptised at Christ Church, Down St., Mayfair, Westminster (Middx), 6 January 1899; educated at Eton and Royal Military College, Sandhurst; an officer in the Coldstream Guards (Lt. by 1919; Capt., 1926; Maj., 1934; Lt-Col., 1941; retired as Col., 1947), who served in the First World War (wounded; awarded MC, 1919); ADC to Governor-General of South Africa, 1924-26; Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General for London district, 1937-40; Deputy Director of Ground Defence, Air Ministry, 1942-45; known by the courtesy title of Lord Bingham from 1914 until he succeeded his father as 6th Earl of Lucan and 2nd Baron Bingham of Melcombe Bingham, 20 April 1949; a socialist in politics, he joined the Labour government as Captain of Yeomen of the Guard, 1950-51; Parliamentary Under-Secretary in the Commonwealth Relations Office, June-Oct 1951; Opposition Chief Whip in House of Lords, 1954-64; married, 23 December 1929, Kaitlin Elizabeth Anne (d. 1985), only child of Capt. the Hon. Edward Stanley Dawson RN, and had issue two sons and two daughters; died 21 January 1964; will proved 20 April and 4 June 1964 (estate £94,479);

(2) Lady Barbara Violet Bingham (1902-63), born 17 August and baptised at St Mary, Bryanston Sq., St. Marylebone (Middx), 18 September 1902; married, 18 January 1927 at St Margaret, Westminster (Middx), Col. John Henry Bevan CB MC (1894-1978), stockbroker and a senior military intelligence officer, who planned the successful deception operation that concealed the site of the D-Day landings in the Second World War, youngest son of David Augustus Bevan of Rowney Priory, Ware (Herts), and had issue one son and two daughters; died 17 December 1963; will proved 13 February 1964 (estate £59,821);

(3) Hon. John Edward Bingham (1904-92), born 29 February and baptised at St Mark, North Audley St., Westminster, 31 March 1904; educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1922; BA 1925); a stockbroker and an officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1927; Lt., 1930; retired 1933; returned to colours, 1939; Capt., 1940; retired as Maj., 1946) who served in the Second World War in North Africa and with the SAS; married, 7 November 1942 at St John the Evangelist, Edinburgh, Dorothea Blanche Delacour (1913-2000), younger daughter of Rev. John Kyrle Chatfield, and had issue three sons; died 20 September 1992 and was buried at Udimore (Sussex); 

(4) Lady Margaret Diana Bingham (1905-77), born 16 September and baptised at St Mark, North Audley St., Westminster, 17 October 1905; Vice-Chairman of Women's Voluntary Service; JP (from 1956) and DL (from 1970)* for Berkshire; appointed GBE, 1954; married, 14 October 1931 at Royal Military Chapel, Wellington Barracks, London, Field Marshal Harold Rupert Leofric Alexander (1891-1969) KG, GCMG, GCB, OM, MC, DSO, CSI, PC, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, of Tyttenhanger, Cranbourne Grange, Windsor and Winkfield Lodge (Berks), and had issue two sons and one daughter, and adopted one daughter; died 17 August 1977 and was buried at Ridge (Herts); her will was proved 1 December 1977 (estate £55,643).

His father handed over the family estates to him in 1900, and he vested them in the Lucan Estate Co. in the 1920s, which sold Castlebar in c.1924 and Laleham in 1928.

He died 20 April 1949 and was buried at Laleham; his will was proved 19 October and 31 December 1949 (estate £133,616). His widow died aged 94 on 31 January 1972, and was buried at Laleham; her will was proved 8 March 1972 (estate £26,433).

* She was the first female Deputy Lieutenant appointed anywhere in the country.

Principal sources

Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 2003, pp. 2421-23; Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland, 1912, p. 44; J. Lodge & M. Archdall, The peerage of Ireland, vol. 7, 1788, pp. 104-08; M. Bence-Jones, A guide to Irish country houses, 2nd edn., 1988, pp. 41, 61-62, 223-24; E.M. Johnston-Liik, History of the Irish Parliament, 1692-1800, 2002, vol. 3, pp. 182-88; C. O'Brien, I. Nairn & B. Cherry, The buildings of England: Surrey, 2nd edn., 2022, p. 479;

Location of archives

Bingham of Laleham House, Earls of Lucan: deeds, estate and family papers, 1765-20th cent. [The London Archives, Acc/0493]

Coat of arms

Azure, a bend cotised between six crosses patée or.

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide a painting or drawing of Castlebar House before it was destroyed in the Irish rebellion of 1798?
• Can anyone provide 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 30 March 2026.