Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond


Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond, 6th Duke of Lennox, and 1st Duke of Gordon, , styled Lord Settrington until 1819 and Earl of March between 1819 and 1860, was a British Conservative politician.

Background and education

Born at Richmond House, London, he was the son of Charles Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond and Lennox and Lady Caroline, daughter of Field Marshal Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey. He was educated at Westminster and Christ Church, Oxford, where he had a short career as a cricketer. He served in the Royal Horse Guards and was aide-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington.

Political career

March entered politics as member for Sussex West in 1841. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1859. In 1860, he succeeded his father as Duke of Richmond and entered the House of Lords. He chaired the Royal Commission on Capital Punishment, which reported in 1866, and the Royal Commission on Water Supply in 1869, which concluded that there was a need for some sort of overall planning of water supplies for domestic use.
He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1867, and filled various positions in government in the Conservative administrations of the Earl of Derby, Disraeli and the marquess of Salisbury. In 1876 he was rewarded for his public service by being created Duke of Gordon and Earl of Kinrara in the peerage of the United Kingdom. He was also Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen from 1861 until his death at Gordon Castle in 1903.

Family

Richmond married Frances Harriett Greville, daughter of Algernon Greville, on 28 November 1843. They had six children: