Henry Reynolds-Moreton, 2nd Earl of Ducie

Henry George Francis Reynolds-Moreton, 2nd Earl of Ducie (8 May 1802 – 2 June 1853), styled the Hon. Henry Reynolds-Moreton from 1808 to 1837 and the Lord Moreton from 1837 to 1840, was a British Whig politician, agriculturalist and cattle breeder.

Henry Reynolds-Moreton, 2nd Earl of Ducie, 1852 engraving

Early life

Ducie was born on 8 May 1802, the son of Thomas Reynolds-Moreton, 1st Earl of Ducie, and his wife Lady Frances, daughter of Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Carnarvon.[1] He was educated at Eton. Lord Ducie married the Hon. Elizabeth, daughter of John Dutton, 2nd Baron Sherborne, on 29 June 1826.[1] They had eleven sons and four daughters.

Career

Lord Moreton entered Parliament for Gloucestershire in 1831, a seat he held until the following year when the constituency was abolished, and then represented Gloucestershire East until 1835.[1] After entering the House of Lords on the death of his father in 1840 he served in the Whig administration of Lord Russell as a Lord-in-waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) from 1846 to 1847, when he resigned. In Parliament he gained a reputation as an advocate of free trade. He supported the repeal of the Corn Laws and, as an agriculturalist, his views were influential.[1]

Despite his political career Ducie is best remembered as a leading agriculturalist and as a breeder of shorthorns. From 1851 to 1852 he was President of the Royal Agricultural Society.[1] The sale of his famous shorthorns shortly after his death in 1853 generated £9,000.

He was a prominent member of the Evangelican Alliance.[1]

Later life

He died on 2 June 1853 at his home, Tortworth Court, Whitfield, Gloucestershire aged 51, and was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son Henry.[1] His wife, the Countess of Ducie, died in 1865. As his son Henry died in October 1921 without a living son, the earldom passed to another of Lord Ducie's sons Berkeley who had immigrated to Queensland, Australia.[2]

Legacy

The "Ducie cultivator" usually ascribed to him[1] is in fact believed to have been invented by the managers of his ironworks at Uley.

Arms

Coat of arms of Henry Reynolds-Moreton, 2nd Earl of Ducie

Coronet A Coronet of an Earl Crest A Moorcock's Head Or combed and wattled Gules between two Wings displayed Azure Escutcheon Quarterly: 1 and 4th, Argent a Chevron Gules between three Square Buckles Sable (Moreton); 2 and 3rd, Or two Lions passant guardant Gules (Ducie) Supporters On either side a Unicorn Argent armed unguled maned and tufted Or, each gorged with a Ducal Coronet per pale Gold and Gules Motto Perseverando (By persevering)

Notes

1. "OBITUARY FOR JUNE". The Empire. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 18 October 1853. p. 3. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
2. "THE EARL OF DUCIE". The Queenslander. Brisbane: National Library of Australia. 18 February 1922. p. 10. Retrieved 26 September 2014.

References

• Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
• Lundy, Darryl. "FAQ". The Peerage.
• Lee, Sidney, ed. (1894). "Moreton, Henry John Reynolds-" . Dictionary of National Biography. 39. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Henry Reynolds-Moreton, 2nd Earl of Ducie