Charles Harbord, 5th Baron Suffield explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Right Honourable
The Lord Suffield
Order1:Master of the Buckhounds
Term Start1:17 February 1886
Term End1:20 July 1886
Monarch1:Queen Victoria
Primeminister1:William Ewart Gladstone
Predecessor1:The Marquess of Waterford
Successor1:The Earl of Coventry
Birth Date:2 January 1830
Nationality:British
Party:Liberal
Spouse:(1) Cecilia Baring (d. 1911)
(2) Frances Amelia Jessie Eliot Gabbett
Children:11

Charles Harbord, 5th Baron Suffield (2 January 1830 – 9 April 1914), was a British peer, courtier and Liberal politician. A close friend of Edward VII, he served as a Lord of the Bedchamber and Lord-in-waiting to the King. He also held political office as Master of the Buckhounds under William Gladstone between February and July 1886.

Background and education

Harbord was a son of Edward Harbord, 3rd Baron Suffield. He was educated at King's College School. His father died in 1835 and in 1853, his childless, elder half-brother (his father's successor) died and Harbord inherited the title.[1] He served for a few years as an officer in the 7th Hussars.[2]

Political career

Lord Suffield was appointed a Lord-in-waiting in 1868 in William Gladstone's first administration, a post he held until 1872. The latter year he was appointed Lord of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales, to whom he was a close friend. He was chief of staff to the Prince of Wales during the Prince's expedition to India in 1875–1876.[3] He did not serve in Gladstone's second administration but was briefly Master of the Buckhounds from February to July 1886 in Gladstone's third administration. He was sworn of the Privy Council in February 1886. He remained Lord of the Bedchamber until 1901, when on the Prince of Wales's accession to the throne, Suffield was made a Lord-in-Waiting-in-Ordinary to the King. He was Master of the Robes at the coronation of Edward VII and Alexandra in 1902.

Harbord served as President of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 1863.[4] On 9 May 1866 he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant of the Norfolk Artillery Militia in which two of his younger brothers were already serving. In 1872 the Prince of Wales became the unit's Honorary Colonel and three years later it became the 'Prince of Wales's Own Norfolk Artillery Militia'. It became a socially exclusive unit in which a number of the prince's connections served.[5]

Family

Lord Suffield married firstly Cecilia Annetta Baring, daughter of Henry Baring, on 4 May 1854. They had two sons and nine daughters:

Lady Suffield died in 1911. Lord Suffield married secondly, aged 81, Frances Amelia Jessie Eliot Gabbett, daughter of Major Robert Pool Gabbett, in August 1911. Lord Suffield was also President of the Royal Cromer golf club in 1887 (in fact Suffield was the landlord of the golf club' land). His son and grandsons were also members of the club and land owners.[6] A substantial landowner, he owned 12,000 acres and had seats at Gunton Park, Norwich, and Harbord House, Cromer. His London residence was at 129 St George's Road.[3] Lord Suffield died in April 1914, aged 84, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Charles.

Honours and arms

Escutcheon:Quarterly: 1st and 4th, quarterly Azure and Gules four Lions rampant Argent and in the centre an Imperial Crown Or (Harbord); 2nd and 3rd, Argent a Fleur-de-lis Gules (Morden)
Crest:On a Chapeau Gules turned up Ermine a Lion couchant Argent
Supporters:Dexter: a Lion Or charged on the shoulder with a Fleur-de-lis Gules and gorged with a Crown Flory Chain reflexed over the back Azure; Sinister: a Leopard guardant proper gorged with a similar Coronet and Chain Or
Motto:Aequanimiter (Even minded) [7]

Notes and References

  1. http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hollyweb/harbord.htm Harbord family
  2. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 100th Edn, London, 1953: 'Suffield'.
  3. https://www.nytimes.com/1914/04/11/archives/lord-suffield-dead-lord-in-waiting-to-king-had-long-association.html The New York Times: LORD SUFFIELD DEAD.
  4. "Obituary", Cricket, 2 May 1914, p. 114.
  5. Army List, various dates.
  6. http://www.royalcromergolfclub.com/pages.php/page/b7e83472-cbc6-102b-84ac-00e08133f7d2/view_section.html Royal Cromer Golf club, History
  7. Web site: Suffield, Baron (GB, 1786) . Cracroft's Peerage.