George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle

Background and education

Carlisle was the eldest son of Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle, and his wife Lady Margaret Caroline Leveson-Gower, daughter of Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford and his wife Lady Louisa, daughter of Scroop Egerton, 1st Duke of Bridgewater. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford.

Political career

Carlisle was returned to parliament for Morpeth in 1795, a seat he held until 1806 ; he then represented Cumberland until 1820. In 1806 he was sworn on to the Privy Council. In 1825 he succeeded his father to the earldom and he entered the House of Lords.

He served in the moderate Tory governments of George Canning and Lord Goderich as First Commissioner of Woods and Forests between May and July 1827 and as Lord Privy Seal (with a seat in the cabinet) between July 1827 and January 1828. However, he split with the Tories over electoral reform and later served as a member of the cabinet in the Whig administrations of Lord Grey and Lord Melbourne as Minister without Portfolio between 1830 and 1834 and once again as Lord Privy Seal between July and November 1834.

Apart from his political career Carlisle was Lord Lieutenant of the East Riding of Yorkshire between 1824 and 1840. He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1837.

Family

Lord Carlisle married Lady Georgiana Cavendish (1783–1858), daughter of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire and Lady Georgiana Spencer, in 1801. They were parents of twelve children:

1. George Howard, 7th Earl of Carlisle (18 April 1802– 5 December 1864).
2. Lady Caroline Georgiana Howard (24 June 1803 – 27 November 1881). She married William Lascelles.
3. Lady Georgiana Howard (1804–17 March 1860). She married George Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron Dover.
4. Hon. Frederick George Howard (8 June 1805 – 18 November 1834).
5. Lady Harriet Elizabeth Georgiana Howard (21 May 1806 – 27 October 1868). She married George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland.
6. William George Howard, 8th Earl of Carlisle (23 February 1808 – 29 March 1889).
7. Edward Granville George Howard, 1st Baron Lanerton (23 December 1809– 8 October 1880). He married Diana Ponsonby, daughter of the Hon. George Ponsonby.
8. Lady Blanche Georgiana Howard (11 January 1812 – 27 April 1840). She married William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire.
9. Hon. Charles Wentworth George Howard (27 March 1814 –11 April 1879). He married Mary Parke, daughter of James Parke, Baron Wensleydale. They were parents of George Howard, 9th Earl of Carlisle.
10. Lady Elizabeth Dorothy Anne Howard ( 8 December 1816 – 11 May 1891). She married Reverend Francis Richard Grey, son of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey.
11. Hon. Henry George Howard (22 May 1818 – 10 August 1879). On 29 May 1845, he married Mary Wellesley McTavish, daughter of John McTavish, British Consul at Baltimore, and his wife, Emily Caton. The couple wed from the house of her aunt, the Marchioness Wellesley. He served as Secretary of the British Embassy in Paris. His wife died in Paris 21 February 1850, in her 23rd year.
12. Lady Mary Matilda Georgiana Howard (28 January 1823 – 17 September 1892). She married Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Taunton.

Lord Carlisle died at Castle Howard, Yorkshire, in October 1848, aged 75, and was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son, George. The Countess of Carlisle died at Castle Howard in August 1858, aged 75.

Much of the modern British aristocracy can trace their roots to the sixth Earl of Carlisle. Through his daughter Harriet, Duchess of Sutherland, he is the ancestor of the present Dukes of Hamilton & Brandon, Argyll, Leinster, and Westminster, the present Marquesses of Hertford and Londonderry, the present earls of Selkirk, Lichfield and Cromartie, and the present Viscount Dilhorne, among many others. The late Duchess of Beaufort and the heir to the Duke of Roxburghe, and the late wife of the sixth Duke of Sutherland, were all descended from Harriet, although none of the present holders of those titles are. Through his daughter Georgina, Duchess of Devonshire, Lord Carlisle is the ancestor of the present Duke of Devonshire, Marquess of Salisbury, Earl of Stockton. Through his daughter Lady Caroline Lascelles, he is the ancestor of the present Duke of Buccleuch & Queensberry and the present Duke of Westminster. The present Duke of Northumberland, meanwhile, is descended from Lord Carlisle through several daughters. Other descendants include Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple, naturalist Gavin Maxwell, spymaster Eliza Manningham-Buller and supermodel Stella Tennant.