Henry Brydges, 2nd Duke of Chandos
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Henry Brydges, 2nd Duke of Chandos (17 January 1708 – 28 November 1771) described by King George II as "a hot headed, passionate, half-witted coxcomb" [1] was the second son of James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos PC and Mary Lake, succeeding to the title upon the death of his father on 9 August 1744. He was the Member of Parliament for Hereford from 1727 to 1734 and for Steyning between 1734 and 1741.
[edit] Marriages and children
On 21 December 1728 he married Lady Mary Bruce (1710-1738), daughter of Charles Bruce, 4th Earl of Elgin and Lady Anne Saville. They had two children who survived childhood, Lady Caroline Brydges (1729-1789] and James Brydges, 3rd Duke of Chandos (1731-1789) who were painted by Bartholomew Dandridge in 1738 [2]
On 25 December 1744 he married Anne Wells, daughter of John Wells of Newbury and a chambermaid at the Pelican Inn, Newbury. The circumstances of Henry's marriage to Anne were unconventional and described by a witness as follows:
The Duke of Chandos and a companion dined at the Pelican, Newbury, on the way to London. A stir in the Inn yard led to their being told that a man was going to sell his wife, and they are leading her up with a halter around her neck. They went to see. The Duke was smitten with her beauty and patient acquiescence in a process which would (as then supposed) free her from a harsh and ill-conditioned husband. He bought her, and subsequently married her (at Keith’s Chapel) Christmas Day, 1744.[3]
Anne died in 1759 without male issue and Brydge married for a third time in 1767 to Elizabeth Major (1731-1813), daughter of Sir John Major, 1st Bart.
[edit] Career and titles
From 1729 to 1735 Brydges was Master of the Horse to HRH Frederick, Prince of Wales and in 1732 was invested as a Knight, Order of the Bath. On the death of his father as well as succeeding to the Dukedom, he also became 2nd Marquess of Carnarvon, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon, 5th Baronet Brydges of Wilton, and 2nd Viscount Wilton. [1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Cokayne, and others, The Complete Peerage, volume III, pp131-132
- ^ Portrait of James Brydges, Lord Wilton, later 3rd Duke of Chandos (1731-1789) and Lady Caroline Brydges, later Lady Caroline Leigh (1729/30-1804)
- ^ Notes and Queries, Fourth Series, VI, 179; 27 August, 1870
| Peerage of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by James Brydges |
Duke of Chandos 1744–1771 |
Succeeded by James Brydges |
| Earl of Carnarvon 1744–1771 |
||
| Peerage of England | ||
| Preceded by James Brydges |
Baron Chandos 1744–1771 |
Succeeded by James Brydges |
