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'Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond and Lennox', KG (9 December 1764 – August 28, 1819) was a British soldier and politician and Governor General of British North America. He was born at Gordon Castle, near Thirsk, Scotland and died near Perth, Ontario, Canada. His father was General Lord George Lennox, the younger son of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond.

Contents

Cricket

Army captain

Family

Duke

Governor General of Canada

After death

References

External links

Cricket references

Cricket

Lennox was a keen cricketer. He was an accomplished right-hand bat and a noted wicket-keeper. He was a founder member of the Marylebone Cricket Club. In 1786, together with the Earl of Winchilsea, Lennox offered Thomas Lord a guarantee against any losses Lord might suffer on starting a new cricket ground. This led to Lord opening his first cricket ground in 1787. Although Lord's Cricket Ground has since moved twice, Lennox' and Winchilsea's guarantee provided the genesis of the best-known cricket ground in the world, a ground known as the Home of Cricket.
Nearly always listed as the Hon. Colonel Charles Lennox in contemporary scorecards, Lennox had 55 recorded first-class appearances from 1784 to 1800 and played a few more games after that.

Army captain

Lennox became an army captain in 35th Regiment of Foot at the age of 23 in 1787. In 1789 he was involved in a duel with Frederick, Duke of York, who had accused him of ungentlemanly behaviour. A few months later he was involved in another duel, and later in the year he married Lady Charlotte Gordon, daughter of the 4th Duke of Gordon. In 1794 and 1795 he participated in naval engagements against the French in the West Indies and Gibraltar, but was sent home when he came into conflict with his superiors. He was also MP for Sussex, succeeding his father, from 1790 until he succeeded to the dukedom.

Family

He had fourteen children:

★ Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond (1791–1860)

★ Lady Mary Lennox (c. 1792 – December 7, 1847), married Sir Charles Fitzroy and had issue

★ Lt.-Col. Lord John George Lennox (October 3, 1793 – November 10, 1873), married Louisa Rodney and had issue

★ Sarah Lennox (c. 1794 – September 8, 1873), married Peregrine Maitland

★ Lady Georgiana Lennox (September 30, 1795 – December 15, 1891), married William FitzGerald-de Ros, 23rd Baron de Ros and had issue

★ Lord Henry Adam Lennox (September 6, 1797 – 1812), fell overboard from HMS ''Blake'' and drowned

★ Lord William Pitt Lennox (September 20, 1799 – February 18, 1881), married first Mary Anne Paton and second Ellen Smith; had issue by the second

★ Lady Jane Lennox (c. 1800 – March 27, 1861), married Laurence Peel and had issue

★ Captain Lord Frederick Lennox (January 24, 1801 – October 25, 1829)

★ Lord Sussex Lennox (June 11, 1802 – April 12, 1874), married Hon. Mary Lawless and had issue

★ Louisa Maddelena Lennox (October 2, 1803 – March 2, 1900), married Rt. Hon. William Tighe, died without issue

★ Charlotte Lennox (c. 1804 – August 20, 1833), married Maurice Berkeley, 1st Baron FitzHardinge of Bristol and had issue

★ Lt.-Col. Lord Arthur Lennox (October 2, 1806 – January 15, 1864), married Adelaide Campbell and had issue

★ Sophia Georgiana Lennox (July 21, 1809 – January 17, 1902), married Lord Thomas Cecil, died without issue

Duke

He became the 4th Duke of Richmond on December 29, 1806, after the death of his uncle, Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond. In April 1807 he became Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He remained in that post until 1813, with Arthur Wellesley (the later Duke of Wellington) as his secretary. He participated in the Napoleonic Wars and in 1815 he was in command of a reserve force in Brussels, which was protecting that city in case Napoleon won the Battle of Waterloo. On June 15, the night before the Battle of Quatre Bras, his wife held a ball for his fellow officers. Although he observed the battle the next day, as well as Waterloo on June 18, he did not participate in either. In the 1970 movie Waterloo, his wife is played by Virginia McKenna, and his daughter Sarah and brother-in-law are also portrayed.

Governor General of Canada

In 1818 he was appointed Governor General of Upper Canada. While visiting the territory in 1819, he was bitten by a pet fox, and died of rabies on August 28 of that year. His title was inherited by his son, Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond.
''See also: List of Governors General of Canada''

After death

The towns of Richmond, Ontario and Richmond, Quebec as well as Richmond County, Nova Scotia were named after him. According to tradition, the town of Richmond Hill, Ontario was also named after him, as he was said to have passed through the then village during his visit in 1819.

References

★ thePeerage.com

★ Genealogics - Leo van de Pas

★ Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''

★ Biography at ''Virtual American Biographies''

★ ''Lord's 1787-1945'' by Sir Pelham Warner ISBN 1-85145-112-9

★ Cricket Archive page on Charles Lennox

★ Cricinfo page on Charles Lennox

External links

★ From Lads to Lord's; The History of Cricket: 1300 – 1787

Cricket references

★ ''Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket'' by G B Buckley (FL18)

★ ''The Dawn of Cricket'' by H T Waghorn (WDC)

★ ''Scores & Biographies, Volume 1'' by Arthur Haygarth (SBnnn)

★ ''The Glory Days of Cricket'' by Ashley Mote (GDC)

★ ''John Nyren's "The Cricketers of my Time"'' by Ashley Mote