Henry Reynolds-Moreton, 2nd Earl of Ducie
Henry George Francis Reynolds-Moreton, 2nd Earl of Ducie (8 May 1802 – 2 June 1853), styled the Hon. Henry Reynolds-Moreton from 1808 to 1837 and the Lord Moreton from 1837 to 1840, was a British Whig politician, agriculturalist and cattle breeder.
Early life[edit]
Ducie was born on 8 May 1802, the son of Thomas Reynolds-Moreton, 1st Earl of Ducie, and his wife Lady Frances Herbert, daughter of Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Carnarvon.[1] He was educated at Eton. Lord Ducie married the Hon. Elizabeth, daughter of John Dutton, 2nd Baron Sherborne, on 29 June 1826.[1] They had eleven sons and four daughters.
Career[edit]
Lord Moreton entered Parliament for Gloucestershire in 1831, a seat he held until the following year when the constituency was abolished, and then represented Gloucestershire East until 1835.[1] After entering the House of Lords on the death of his father in 1840 he served in the Whig administration of Lord Russell as a Lord-in-waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) from 1846 to 1847, when he resigned. In Parliament he gained a reputation as an advocate of free trade. He supported the repeal of the Corn Laws and, as an agriculturalist, his views were influential.[1]
Between 1848 and 1853, a new Tortworth Court was built for Ducie, in a Tudor style,[2] to designs by the architect Samuel Sanders Teulon.[3]
Despite his political career, Ducie is best remembered as a leading agriculturalist and as a breeder of shorthorns. From 1851 to 1852 he was President of the Royal Agricultural Society.[1] The sale of his famous shorthorns shortly after his death in 1853 generated £9,000.
He was a prominent member of the Evangelican Alliance.[1]
Later life[edit]
He died on 2 June 1853 at his home, Tortworth Court, Whitfield, Gloucestershire aged 51, and was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son Henry.[1] His wife, the Countess of Ducie, died in 1865. As his son Henry died in October 1921 without a living son, the earldom passed to another of Lord Ducie's sons Berkeley who had immigrated to Queensland, Australia.[4]
Legacy[edit]
The "Ducie cultivator" usually ascribed to him[1] is in fact believed to have been invented by the managers of his ironworks at Uley.
Arms[edit]
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Notes[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h "OBITUARY FOR JUNE". The Empire. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 18 October 1853. p. 3. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
- ^ Historic England (2 November 2013). "Tortworth Court (1000394)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
- ^ "Leyhill Officers' Training School". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ^ "THE EARL OF DUCIE". The Queenslander. Brisbane: National Library of Australia. 18 February 1922. p. 10. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
References[edit]
- Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, [page needed]
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages [self-published source] [better source needed]
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
- Lundy, Darryl. "FAQ". The Peerage.[unreliable source]
- Lee, Sidney, ed. (1894). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 39. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
External links[edit]
| International | |
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| National | |
- 1802 births
- 1853 deaths
- People from South Gloucestershire District
- Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Gloucestershire
- People educated at Eton College
- UK MPs 1831–1832
- UK MPs 1832–1835
- UK MPs who inherited peerages
- Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies
- Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club