Charles Augustus Stanhope, 8th Earl of Harrington (9 January 1844 – 5 February 1917), known as Viscount Petersham from 1866 to 1881, was a British peer and successful polo player.
Harrington was the son of Charles Stanhope, 7th Earl of Harrington and Elizabeth Still de Pearsall. He learned polo in Malta while in the Earl of Chester's Yeomanry. In 1885 he played at the back in the Gloucesterhshire team that won the County Cup. Harrington won the Hurlingham Champion Cup in 1892 with Sussex County and the Rugby Open Cup with Cheshire. His rotund figure and flowing beard were a memorable image on British polo grounds and an obvious choice for caricature in Vanity Fair. Harrington was the inventor of the papier-mâché goal posts and was President of the County Polo Association and the first President of the Polo Pony Society and was responsible for the establishment of the Polo Pony Stud book.
He was a Deputy Lieutenant of Derbyshire and Aide-de-Camp to HM King Edward VII between 1907 and 1910.[1]
Lord Harrington married the Honourable Eva Elizabeth Carrington, daughter of Robert Carrington, 2nd Baron Carrington, in 1869. He died in February 1917, aged 73, and was succeeded in his titles by his younger brother Dudley. Lady Harrington died in 1919.
| Peerage of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Charles Wyndham Stanhope |
Earl of Harrington 1881–1917 |
Succeeded by Dudley Henry Eden Stanhope |