Robert Wynn Carrington, 1st Marquess of Lincolnshire

The Most Honourable
The Marquess of Lincolnshire
KG, GCMG, PC, DL, JP
Governor of New South Wales
In office
12 December 1885  3 November 1890
Monarch Victoria
Preceded by Lord Augustus Loftus
Succeeded by The Earl of Jersey
President of the Board of Agriculture
In office
10 December 1905  23 October 1911
Monarch Edward VII
George V
Prime Minister Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
H. H. Asquith
Preceded by Hon. Ailwyn Fellowes
Succeeded by Walter Runciman
Personal details
Born 16 May 1843
Whitehall, London
Died 13 June 1928
Daws Hill House, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
Nationality British
Political party Liberal
Spouse(s) Hon. Cecilia Harbord
(1856–1934)
Alma mater Trinity College, Cambridge

Charles Robert Wynn-Carrington, 1st Marquess of Lincolnshire KG, GCMG, PC, DL, JP (16 May 1843 – 13 June 1928), known as the Lord Carrington from 1868 to 1895 and as the Earl Carrington from 1895 to 1912, was a British Liberal politician and aristocrat.

Background and education

Born at Whitehall, London, Lincolnshire was the eldest son of Robert Carrington, 2nd Baron Carrington, by his wife the Hon. Charlotte Augusta Drummond-Willoughby, daughter of Peter Drummond-Burrell, 22nd Baron Willoughby de Eresby and sister of Albyric Drummond-Willoughby, 23rd Baron Willoughby de Eresby. The Hon. Sir William Carington and Rupert Carington, 4th Baron Carrington were his younger brothers while Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington is his great-nephew. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge.[1] On his mother's death in 1879 he became joint hereditary Lord Great Chamberlain of England. Born Robert Carrington, he and his two brothers assumed by Royal Licence the surname of Carington in 1880. In 1896 he assumed by Royal Licence the surname of Wynn-Carington.

Political career

Lord Lincolnshire sat in the House of Commons as a Liberal for High Wycombe from 1865 until he succeeded his father in 1868. He served under William Ewart Gladstone as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms from 1881 to 1885 and was sworn of the Privy Council in 1881. He was Governor of New South Wales between 1885 and 1890 and was appointed a GCMG in June 1885. He again held office under Gladstone and later Lord Rosebery as Lord Chamberlain of the Household from 1892 to 1895. The latter year he was created Viscount Wendover, of Chepping Wycombe in the County of Buckingham, and Earl Carrington.

In early 1901 he was appointed by King Edward to lead a special diplomatic mission to announce the King´s accession to the governments of France, Spain, and Portugal.[2]

After the Liberals returned to power in 1905 he served as President of the Board of Agriculture between 1905 and 1911 and as Lord Privy Seal between 1911 and 1912, with a seat in the cabinet in Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and H. H. Asquith's ministries. He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1906 and in 1912 he was further honoured when he was made Marquess of Lincolnshire.[3]

Family

Lord Lincolnshire married the Hon. Cecilia Margaret Harbord, daughter of Charles Harbord, 5th Baron Suffield, in 1878. They had one son and five daughters. His only son, Albert Edward Charles Robert Wynn Carrington, Viscount Wendover (1895–1915), died on 19 May 1915 of complications following the amputation of an arm when he was wounded in the fighting at Ypres during the First World War.[4] Lord Lincolnshire died in June 1928, aged 85, when the marquessate, earldom and viscountcy became extinct. He was succeeded in the baronies of Carrington by his younger brother, Rupert Carington, 4th Baron Carrington. The Marchioness of Lincolnshire died in October 1934, aged 78.

Freemasonry

He was initiated into freemasonry on 28 October 1861 in the Isaac Newton University Lodge No. 859 at the age of 18. He was passed in Cairo 8 years later and raised in Royal York Lodge of Perseverance No. 7 on 6 October 1875. On 3 January 1882 he became a member of Royal Alpha Lodge No. 16. Even though he was not a past Master of a Lodge, he was appointed Senior Grand Warden of the United Grand Lodge of England in 1882. When he became Governor of New South Wales, he found a rivalry of lodges working under the United Grand Lodge of England and the Grand Lodge of Scotland and lodges working under the 1877 formed Grand Lodge of New South Wales. Trying to unite the Lodges, he became firstly District Grand Master and then Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New South Wales. However, as he was not already a Worshipful Master, he could not become Grand Master. So, he was made Worshipful Master at sight of the Lodge Ionic No. 15. Nine senior Masons were present, including Samuel Way. In 1890 he was appointed Provincial Grand Master of Buckinghamshire and after serving five years, he was made Grand Representative in England of the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales.[5]

References

  1. "Smith (or Wynn-Carrington), the Hon. Charles Robert Wynn (SMT861CR)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  2. "The King – the special Embassies" The Times (London). Saturday, 23 March 1901. (36410), p. 12.
  3. Martin, A. W. (1969). "Carrington, Charles Robert [Marquess of Lincolnshire] (1843–1928)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: Australian National University. Retrieved 3 April 2008.
  4. "Viscount Wendover Dead". The Register (Adelaide). 21 May 1915. p. 6. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  5. Vice-regal Grand Masters – Who and Why?

External links

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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Martin Tucker Smith
John Remington Mills
Member of Parliament for Wycombe
1865–1868
With: John Remington Mills
Succeeded by
Hon. William Carington
Political offices
Preceded by
The Marquess of Huntly
Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms
1881–1885
Succeeded by
The Earl of Coventry
Preceded by
Lord Augustus Loftus
Governor of New South Wales
1885–1890
Succeeded by
The Earl of Jersey
Preceded by
The Earl of Lathom
Lord Chamberlain
1892–1895
Succeeded by
The Earl of Lathom
Preceded by
Ailwyn Fellowes
President of the Board of Agriculture
1905–1911
Succeeded by
Walter Runciman
Preceded by
The Earl of Crewe
Lord Privy Seal
1911–1912
Succeeded by
The Marquess of Crewe
Court offices
Preceded by
The Marquess of Cholmondeley
Lord Great Chamberlain
1910–1928
Succeeded by
Viscount Lewisham
Honorary titles
Preceded by
The Lord Rothschild
Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire
1915–1923
Succeeded by
The Lord Cottesloe
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Marquess of Lincolnshire
1912–1928
Extinct
Earl Carrington
1895–1928
Viscount Wendover
1895–1928
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by
Robert Carrington
Baron Carrington
1868–1928
Succeeded by
Rupert Carington