Charles Yorke, 5th Earl of Hardwicke

Charles Philip Yorke, 5th Earl of Hardwicke, PC, DL (23 April 1836 – 18 May 1897), styled Viscount Royston until 1873, and nicknamed Champagne Charlie for his love of the high life, was a British aristocrat, Conservative politician, dandy and bankrupt.[2]

The Right Honourable The Earl of Hardwicke PC, DL
Master of the Buckhounds
In office 2 March 1874 – 21 April 1880
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	Benjamin Disraeli
Preceded by	The Earl of Cork
Succeeded by	The Earl of Cork
Personal details
Born	23 April 1836
Died	18 May 1897 (aged 61)
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Lady Sophia Wellesley (1840–1923)
Education	Harrow School[1]
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge[1]

Background

Hardwicke was the eldest son of Admiral Charles Yorke, 4th Earl of Hardwicke, and the Hon. Susan, daughter of Thomas Liddell, 1st Baron Ravensworth. Elliot Yorke was his younger brother.[3]

Cricket

While studying at Trinity College, Cambridge, Hardwicke played first-class cricket on four occasions for Cambridge University Cricket Club in 1856 and 1857.[4]

Political career

Hardwicke was returned to Parliament for Cambridgeshire in 1865[3][5] (succeeding his uncle Eliot Yorke) and served under the Earl of Derby and Benjamin Disraeli as Comptroller of the Household between 1866 and 1868.[3][6][7] He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1866.[8]

Wimpole Hall

In 1873 he succeeded his father in the earldom and to his estates, including Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire, and entered the House of Lords.[3] The following year he was appointed Master of the Buckhounds under Disraeli,[9] and continued in this post until the government fell in 1880.[10]

In 1879 Lord Hardwicke had a horse race, the Hardwicke Stakes, named after him.[11][12]

An inveterate gambler, the 5th Earl racked up huge debts with the Agar-Robartes Bank and was obliged to put the Wimpole Hall Estate up for sale by auction in 1891. When it failed to raise the reserve price Lord Robartes, as Chairman of Agar-Robartes Bank, accepted the estate in settlement.

Family

Lord Hardwicke married Lady Sophia Georgiana Robertina, daughter of Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley, in 1863. They had one son and two daughters. He died in May 1897, aged 61, and was succeeded in the earldom by his only son, Albert. The Countess of Hardwicke died in June 1923.[3]

References

1. HARDWICKE, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2016 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2014, accessed 12 November 2016)
2. F. M. L. Thompson, 'Yorke, Charles Philip , fifth earl of Hardwicke (1836–1897)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 9 March 2011
3. thepeerage.com Charles Philip Yorke, 5th Earl of Hardwicke
4. "Player profile: Viscount Hardwicke". CricketArchive. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
5. "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Caernarfon to Cambridgeshire South West". Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 12 November 2009.
6. "No. 23137". The London Gazette. 13 July 1866. p. 3984.
7. "No. 23452". The London Gazette. 22 December 1868. p. 6776.
8. "No. 23136". The London Gazette. 11 July 1866. p. 3981.
9. "No. 24072". The London Gazette. 6 March 1874. p. 1525.
10. "No. 24842". The London Gazette. 7 May 1880. p. 2915.
11. royal-ascot-bets.com The Hardwicke Stakes
12. tbheritage.com Gazeteer: Race Courses of Great Britain and Ireland

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Hardwicke