Colonel Sir Robert Nigel Fitzhardinge Kingscote GCVO, KCB, JP (28 February 1830 - 22 September 1908), was a British soldier, Liberal politician, courtier and agriculturalist.
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Kingscote was the son of Colonel Thomas Henry Kingscote, of Kingscote, Gloucestershire, by his first wife Lady Isabella Anne Frances, daughter of Henry Somerset, 6th Duke of Beaufort. His mother died when he was less than one year old, shortly after the birth of her second child, a daughter.[1] His brother, Thomas Kingscote, also joined the Royal Household.
Kingscote was commissioned in to the Scots Fusilier Guards in 1846. He was Aide-de-Camp to his great-uncle, Lord Raglan, during the Crimean War, and later achieved the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Royal Scots Fusiliers. He was also a honorary colonel in the 4th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment.[2]
Kingscote was Member of Parliament for Gloucestershire West between 1852 and 1885.[3] The latter year he was appointed a Commissioner of Woods and Forests, a post he held until 1895. He was also a Justice of the Peace for Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.[4]
Kingscote was a Groom-in-Waiting to Queen Victoria between 1859 and 1865, an Extra Equerry to the Prince of Wales in 1867, Receiver-General of the Duchy of Cornwall in 1888, Extra Equerry to Edward VII between 1901 and 1902 and Paymaster-General of the Royal Household between 1901 and 1908. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1855, a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1889 and a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in 1902.[5]
Kingscote was also involved in agricultural affairs and served as President of the Royal Agricultural Society in 1878.[6]
Kingscote was twice married. He married firstly the Hon. Caroline Sophia, daughter of George Wyndham, 1st Baron Leconfield, in 1851. They had no children. She died in March 1852. Kingscote married secondly Lady Emily Marie, daughter of Richard Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe, in 1856. They had two sons and two daughters. His eldest daughter, Harriet, married Arthur Wilson and was the mother of Field Marshal Henry Maitland Wilson, 1st Baron Wilson. Kingscote died in September 1908, aged 78. Lady Kingscote survived him by two years and died in December 1910.[7]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Hon. Grantley Berkeley Robert Blagden Hale |
Member of Parliament for Gloucestershire West 1852–1885 With: Robert Blagden Hale 1852–1857 Sir John Rolt 1857–1867 Edward Arthur Somerset 1867–1868 Samuel Marling 1867–1874 Hon. Randal Plunkett 1874–1880 Lord Moreton 1880–1885 |
Succeeded by Lord Moreton Benjamin St John Ackers |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by Hon. Charles Alexander Gore George Culley |
Commissioner of Woods and Forests 1885–1895 With: George Culley 1885–1893 Stafford Howard 1893–1895 |
Succeeded by John Francis Fortescue Horner Stafford Howard |