General Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington, (17 March 1753 – 5 September 1829), styled Viscount Petersham until 1779, was a British Army officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1779 when he succeeded to the peerage as Earl of Harrington.
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Early life
Stanhope was the son of William Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Harrington, and Lady Caroline FitzRoy, daughter of Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, and Lady Henrietta Somerset, daughter of Charles Somerset, Marquess of Worcester, and Rebecca Child. He was educated at Eton.
Military career
Stanhope was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards in 1769. During the Saratoga campaign of the American Revolutionary War as Viscount Petersham, he commanded the 29th Regiment of Foot's Grenadier company and was an aide-de-camp to General John Burgoyne.
He was Colonel of the 85th Regiment of Foot (1778–1783), the 65th Regiment of Foot (1783–1788) and the 29th Regiment of Foot (1788–1792). He was finally Colonel of the 1st Life Guards from 1792 to his death. He was promoted full general in 1803 and made GCH in 1821. From 1805 to 1812 he was Commander-in-Chief, Ireland, and he was sent on diplomatic errands to Vienna and to Berlin.
Viscount Petersham can be seen in the famous painting "The Burial of General Fraser at Saratoga" standing above Simon Fraser.
Parliamentary career
He was briefly elected to serve as Member of Parliament for Thetford in 1774 and then sat from 1776 to 1779 as one of the members for Westminster.
Family
Lord Harrington was married to Jane Fleming, daughter of Sir John Fleming, 1st Baronet, in 1778. She was an heiress of £100,000 and later became a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Charlotte. Lord and Lady Harrington had eleven children:
Charles Stanhope, 4th Earl of Harrington (8 April 1780 – 3 March 1851). He was married to Maria Foote, daughter of Samuel Foote.
Maj-Gen. Hon. Lincoln Edwin Robert Stanhope (26 November 1781 – 29 February 1840).
Anna Maria Stanhope, Duchess of Bedford (3 September 1783 – 3 July 1857). She was married to Francis Russell, 7th Duke of Bedford.
Leicester FitzGerald Charles Stanhope, 5th Earl of Harrington (2 September 1784 – 7 September 1862). He married Elizabeth Green, daughter of William Green and Ann Rose Hall.
Hon. William Sefton George Stanhope (29 December 1785 – February 1786)
Rev. Hon. FitzRoy Henry Richard Stanhope (24 April 1787 – 11 April 1864). Dean of St Buryan, Cornwall, and rector of Catton and of Wressle in Yorkshire. He married Caroline Wyndham, illegitimate daughter of the Hon. Charles Wyndham. They were parents of Charles Stanhope, 7th Earl of Harrington, his younger brother Percy Stanhope and of several other children.
Maj. Hon. Sir Francis Charles Stanhope (29 September 1788 – 9 October 1862). He had three children by Hannah Wilson, daughter of James Wilson of Parsonstown Manor, County Meath.
Rev. Hon. Henry William Stanhope (2 August 1790 – 21 June 1872). Rector of Gawsworth.
Lady Caroline Anne Stanhope (20 November 1791 – 25 November 1853), married Edward Ayshford Sanford on 21 June 1841.