Name George 4th Role Politician | Children Arthur Lyttelton | |
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Parents Sarah Lyttelton, Baroness Lyttelton Grandparents George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer Great-grandparents John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer, Georgiana Spencer, Countess Spencer | ||
George William Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton, KCMG, PC, DL, FRS (31 March 1817 – 19 April 1876) was a British aristocrat and Conservative politician from the Lyttelton family. He was chairman of the Canterbury Association, which encouraged British settlers to move to New Zealand.
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Early life
Lyttelton was the eldest son of William Lyttelton, 3rd Baron Lyttelton, and Lady Sarah Spencer, daughter of George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge. He succeeded his father as fourth Baron Lyttelton in 1837 and took his seat in the House of Lords on his 21st birthday a year later. The Lyttelton seat is Hagley Hall in Worcestershire.
Political career
In January 1846 he was appointed Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies in the Conservative government of Sir Robert Peel, a post he held until the government fell in June of the same year. Lyttelton was also Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire from 1839 to 1876 and the first President of Birmingham and Midland Institute in 1854. Moreover, he founded the region of Canterbury, New Zealand with Anglican colonists. The port of Canterbury bears his name. He was president of the British Chess Association at the time of the Staunton–Morphy controversy in 1858. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 1869 Birthday Honours.
Family
Lord Lyttelton married, firstly in 1839, Mary Glynne, daughter of Sir Stephen Glynne, 8th Baronet, and sister-in-law of William Ewart Gladstone. They had eight sons and four daughters:
After Mary's death in 1857 Lyttelton married, secondly, Sybella Harriet Clive, daughter of George Clive MP, in 1869. They had three daughters, the youngest of whom, Hester Margaret, married Cyril Alington, also headmaster of Eton, and Dean of Durham.
Lyttelton committed suicide at the age of 59 by throwing himself down the stairs in a London house. He was succeeded by his eldest son Charles, who later also inherited the viscounty of Cobham. Lady Lyttelton died in 1900.