Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond
Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, 1st Duke of Lennox, 1st Duke of Aubigny (29 July 1672 – 27 May 1723), of Goodwood House near Chichester in Sussex, was an illegitimate son of King Charles II by his mistress Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth.
Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond | |
---|---|
Portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller | |
Born | London, England | 29 July 1672
Died | 27 May 1723 50) Sussex, England | (aged
Title | Duke of Richmond |
Tenure | 9 August 1675 – 27 May 1723 |
Other titles | 1st Duke of Lennox 1st Duke of Aubigny (France) 1st Earl of March 1st Earl of Darnley 1st Baron Settrington 1st Lord Torbolton Hereditary Constable of Inverness Castle |
Spouse(s) | Anne Belasyse (née Brudenell) |
Issue | Louisa Lennox Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond Anne Lennox |
Parents | Charles II of England Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth |
Career
On 9 August 1675 he was created Duke of Richmond, Earl of March and Baron Settrington in the Peerage of England, and on 9 September 1675 was created Duke of Lennox, Earl of Darnley and Baron Methuen of Torbolten in the Peerage of Scotland.[1] He was invested as a Knight of the Garter on 18 April 1681 and created Duke of Aubigny in 1684.[2] He was appointed Lord High Admiral of Scotland, under reservation of the commission granted to James, Duke of Albany and York (later James VII), as Lord High Admiral for life. The appointment was therefore only effective between 1701 and 1705, when Lennox resigned all of his Scottish lands and offices.
It appears that he was Master of a Lodge in Chichester in 1696, and so was one of the few known seventeenth-century freemasons.
Marriage & progeny
On 8 January 1692 he married Anne Brudenell (died 9 December 1722), a daughter of Francis Brudenell, Lord Brudenell (d. 1698), eldest son and heir apparent of Robert Brudenell, 2nd Earl of Cardigan. By Anne he had three children:
- Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 2nd Duke of Lennox, son and heir, known during his father's lifetime by the courtesy title of Earl of March;
- Lady Louisa Lennox (24 December 1694 – 15 January 1716), who married James Berkeley, 3rd Earl of Berkeley;
- Lady Anne Lennox, later Countess of Albemarle.
Mistress
By his mistress Jacqueline de Mézières he had a daughter:
- Renée Lennox (1709–1774), mistress of her cousin Charles Beauclerk, 2nd Duke of St Albans.
Cricket
Richmond was a patron of cricket, then becoming a leading professional sport, and did much to develop it in Sussex. It is almost certain that he was involved with the earliest known "great match", which took place in the 1697 season and was the first to be reported by the press. The report was in the Foreign Post dated Wednesday, 7 July 1697:[3]
"The middle of last week a great match at cricket was played in Sussex; there were eleven of a side, and they played for fifty guineas apiece".
The stakes on offer confirm the importance of the fixture and the fact that it was eleven-a-side suggests that two strong and well-balanced teams were assembled.[3] No other details were given but the report provides evidence that top-class cricket, in the form of "great matches" played for high stakes, was in vogue at the time.[4] It was possibly an inter-county match: i.e., a Sussex XI versus a Kent XI or a Surrey XI.[4] Richmond sponsored a team in the 1702 season against an Arundel side.[5] His son Charles, the 2nd Duke, inherited his interest in cricket and became the patron of both Sussex county cricket teams and Slindon Cricket Club.
Death & burial
He died on 27 May 1723 and was buried on 7 June 1723 in the Henry VII Chapel of Westminster Abbey. His body was re-buried on 16 August 1750 in the Lady Chapel of Chichester Cathedral.
Richmond County, New York
Richmond County, New York (coterminous with Staten Island) and Richmond County, Virginia, were named in Charles Lennox's honor (other US counties called "Richmond" were named for later Dukes).
Ancestry
Ancestors of Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
References
- McNeill, Ronald John (1911). . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 306.
- http://www.thepeerage.com/p10237.htm
- McCann, p. xli.
- Leach, John (2007). "From Lads to Lord's – 1697". Stumpsite. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2008.
- McCann, p. 1.
Bibliography
- McCann, Tim (2004). Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century. Sussex Record Society.
Further reading
- Late Baron di Bauvso, Malta. 1 January 2000.
- The Adami Collection – collection of Parish records of Marriages, legacy and nobility, National Library of Malta, vol 10, pp 1838.
Political offices | ||
---|---|---|
In commission Title last held by The Duke of Monmouth |
Master of the Horse 1681–1685 |
Succeeded by The Lord Dartmouth |
Preceded by King James VII |
Lord High Admiral of Scotland 1701–1705 |
Succeeded by The Marquess of Montrose |
Peerage of England | ||
New creation | Duke of Richmond 3rd creation 1675–1723 |
Succeeded by Charles Lennox |
Peerage of Scotland | ||
New creation | Duke of Lennox 2nd creation 1675–1723 |
Succeeded by Charles Lennox |
French nobility | ||
New creation | Duke of Aubigny 1684–1723 |
Succeeded by Charles Lennox |