Charles Stewart, 3rd Duke of Richmond

Charles Stewart, 3rd Duke of Richmond, 6th Duke of Lennox KG (7 March 1639 – December 1672) of Cobham Hall in Kent and of Richmond House in Whitehall, London, 12th Seigneur d'Aubigny in France, was an English nobleman of Franco-Scottish ancestry and a 4th cousin of King Charles II of England, both being descended in the male line from John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox.[1]

His Grace The Duke of Richmond and Lennox KG
Charles Stewart, 3rd Duke of Richmond and 6th Duke of Lennox by Sir Peter Lely.
Lord Lieutenant of Kent
In office 1668–1672
Preceded by	The Earl of Winchilsea The Earl of Southampton
Succeeded by	The Earl of Winchilsea
Personal details
Born	Charles Stewart 7 March 1639
Died	December 1672 (aged 33) Elsinore
Cause of death	Drowning
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Rogers ​ ​ (m. after 1659, died)​ Margaret Banaster Lewis ​ ​ (m. after 1662, died)​ Frances Teresa Stewart ​ ​ (m. 1667; his death 1672)​
Relations	Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk (grandfather) Esmé Stewart, 3rd Duke of Lennox (grandfather)
Parents	George Stewart, 9th Seigneur d'Aubigny Lady Katherine Howard
Residence	Richmond House

Coat of arms of Charles Stewart, 3rd Duke of Richmond, 6th Duke of Lennox, KG

Early life

He was the only son and heir of George Stewart, 9th Seigneur d'Aubigny by his wife Lady Katherine Howard, a daughter of Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk. He was a grandson of Esmé Stewart, 3rd Duke of Lennox.[2]

Career

On 10 December 1645, he was created Baron Stuart of Newbury, Berkshire, and Earl of Lichfield, titles conferred on him "to perpetuate the titles which were intended to have been conferred on his uncle" Lord Bernard Stewart, youngest son of the Duke of Lennox, who had been killed in the Battle of Rowton Heath in the English Civil War in September of that year.[3]

In January 1658, Charles Stewart went into exile in France, and took up his residence in the house of his uncle, Ludovic Stewart, seigneur d'Aubigny. In the following year he fell under the displeasure of The Protectorate's Council of State, and warrants were issued for seizing his person and goods.[4]

He returned to England with King Charles II in 1660, on the Restoration of the Monarchy and sat in the Convention Parliament, showing great animosity towards the supporters of the Commonwealth.[4] On the death of his 10-year-old cousin Esmé Stewart on 10 August 1660, He succeeded as 3rd Duke of Richmond and 6th Duke of Lennox.[3] In that same year he was created Hereditary Great Chamberlain of Scotland, Hereditary Great Admiral of Scotland, and Lord-Lieutenant of Dorset. On 15 April 1661 he was invested with the Order of the Garter.[4]

Around 1660 he built Richmond House on the site of the bowling green of Henry VIII's Palace of White Hall.[5]

On the death of his uncle, Ludovic Stuart, he succeeded him as 12th Seigneur D'Aubigny, for which title he did homage by proxy to King Louis XIV of France on 11 May 1670. In July 1667, on the death of his cousin, Mary Butler, countess of Arran, he became Baron Clifton, and on 4 May 1668 he was made Lord Lieutenant and Vice Admiral of Kent, jointly with the Earl of Winchilsea.[4]

In 1671 he was sent as ambassador to the Danish court to persuade Denmark to join England and France in a projected attack on the Dutch. Whilst there at Elsinore[3][4] in 1672 he died by drowning, aged 33.[6]

Personal life

Charles Stewart married three times, but had no children. Firstly, after June 1659, to Elizabeth Rogers, and after her death, secondly, on 31 March 1662, to Margaret Banaster, widow of William Lewis, who died in 1661.[2]

His third marriage was in March 1667, to Frances Teresa Stewart (1647–1702), granddaughter of Walter Stewart, 1st Lord Blantyre, known at court as "Le Belle Stuart"[7] who had been desired by Richmond's cousin, King Charles II, as a mistress.

Richmond died in December 1672 and was buried in Westminster Abbey on 20 September 1673. As he died without issue, his titles became extinct, with the exception of that of Baron Clifton, which passed with most of his property to his sister Katherine, Lady O'Brien. His wife, however, had been granted the Lennox estates for life.[6] In 1675, the titles Duke of Richmond, Duke of Lennox and Earl of March, were resurrected for Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond and Lennox, the illegitimate son of King Charles II by his mistress Louise de Kérouaille.

See also

• Earl of Lichfield
• Baron Clifton

Notes

1. John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox was the paternal grandfather of Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, father of King James I of England, grandfather of King Charles II
2. "Lennox, Duke of (S, 1581 - 1672)". cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
3. Money 1881, pp. 187–188
4. Dictionary of National Biography, p. 73
5. "Richmond Terrace and House". UK Parliament. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
6. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lennox" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 420.
7. McNeill, Ronald John (1911). "Richmond, Earls and Dukes of" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 306.

References

• Money, Walter (1881). The First and Second Battles of Newbury and the Siege of Donnington Castle During the Civil War, A.D. 1643-6. Simpkin, Marshall and co. Retrieved 1 March 2009.
• "Stuart, Charles (1640-1672)" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

External links

• Genealogy of Charles Stuart, 6th Duke of Lennox on The Peerage website