Robert Sherard, 6th Earl of Harborough (26 August 1797 – 28 July 1859), styled Lord Sherard from 1797 to 1799, was a British peer.

Early life

Sherard was born on 26 August 1797. He was the only son of

Philip Sherard, 5th Earl of Harborough Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularized the n ...

and Eleanor ( Monckton) (1772–1809). He had six sisters, including Lady Lucy Eleanor Sherard (who married Henry Lowther), Lady Anna Maria Sherard (who married William Cuffe), Lady Sophia Sherard (who married Sir Thomas Whichcote, 6th Baronet and William Evans-Freke, 8th Baron Carbery after Sir Thomas' death), and Lady Susan Sherard (who married General John Reeve, of Leadenham House). His paternal grandparents were

Robert Sherard, 4th Earl of Harborough The Reverend Robert Sherard, 4th Earl of Harborough (21 October 1719 – 21 April 1799) was a British clergyman who inherited the earldom of Harborough. Early life Born on 21 October 1719, he was one of six sons and eight daughters born to Phil ...

and his wife Jane Reeve. His maternal grandfather was Col. Hon. John Monckton of

Fineshade Abbey Fineshade Priory was a priory of Augustinian Canons Regular in Northamptonshire, England. The remains of the site are about north-east of Corby along the A43 road. It was founded before 1208 by Richard Engayne (Engain), Lord of Blatherwycke ...

, son of

John Monckton, 1st Viscount Galway John Monckton, 1st Viscount Galway ( – 15 July 1751) was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1727 to 1751. He was elevated to the peerage of Ireland as the first Vis ...

. Through his sister Lady Lucy, he was uncle to

Henry Lowther, 3rd Earl of Lonsdale Henry Lowther, 3rd Earl of Lonsdale (27 March 1818 – 15 August 1876) was a British nobleman and Conservative politician. Early life Lowther was born on 27 March 1818. He was the eldest son of Hon. Henry Cecil Lowther and Lady Lucy Sherard ...

, and diplomat William Lowther.

Career

In 1844, Lord Harborough was involved in an extended battle, both legal and physical, with

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...

over its proposal to run the

Syston and Peterborough Railway The Syston and Peterborough Railway was an early railway in England opened between 1846 and 1848 to form a connection from the Midland Counties Railway near Leicester to Peterborough, giving access to East Anglia over the Eastern Counties Railway ...

along the course of the River Eye through

Stapleford Park Stapleford Park is a Grade I listed country house in Stapleford, Leicestershire, Stapleford, near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, England, which is now used as a hotel. It was originally the seat of the Sherard and Tamblyn families, later the Ear ...

, Harborough's country seat in Stapleford in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

. Its construction would threaten the struggling

Oakham Canal The Oakham Canal ran from Oakham, Rutland to Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It opened in 1802, but it was never a financial success, and it suffered from the lack of an adequate water supply. It closed after 45 y ...

, of which Harborough was a shareholder along with Lord Winchilsea. The dispute led to a series of brawls and confrontations between Harborough's men and canal employees (who borrowed cannons from Harborough's yacht to barricade the towing path) on one side and the railway's surveyors on the other with up to 300 involved in each skirmish. The dispute has been called the "Battle of Saxby". The construction of the railway was authorised by an act of Parliament and a second act of Parliament to allow the canal to be sold and abandoned was obtained on 27 July 1846. After which Oakham Canal was absorbed by Midland and the Syston and Peterborough Railway was built, partly along the canal's course and around Stapleford Park in what is known as "Lord Harborough's Curve". The railway from

Syston Syston ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of Charnwood in Leicestershire, England. The population was 11,508 at the 2001 census, rising to 12,804 at the 2011 census. Overview There has been a settlement on the site for over 1,000 ...

to Melton Mowbray opened on 1 September 1846. It would be more than a year before the sale of the canal was finally completed, on 29 October 1847, but just six months after that, the line from

Melton Mowbray Melton Mowbray () is a market town in the Borough of Melton, Melton district in Leicestershire, England, north-east of Leicester and south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, Leicestershire, River Eye, known below Melton as the Rive ...

to Oakham opened on 1 May 1848. The purchase price enabled a final distribution of £44.35 to be made on each of the original shares. After his death in 1859, the Harborough's Stapleford Park estate was sold to Lord Gretton, who was more sympathetic to the railway, and when the

Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway The Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (M&GNJR) was a railway network in England, in the area connecting southern Lincolnshire, the Isle of Ely and north Norfolk. It developed from several local independent concerns and was incorporated i ...

built a connection to Bourne, the opportunity was taken to reduce the curve, which was a nuisance for the express trains, with Saxby station being moved in the process.

Titles

Upon his father's death on 10 December 1807, he succeeded as the 6th

Earl of Harborough Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...

in the

Peerage of Great Britain The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain between the Acts of Union 1707 and the Acts of Union 1800. It replaced the Peerage of England and the Peerage of Scotland, but was itself repla ...

and the 8th Baron of Sherard in the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

.Sir Bernard Burke, C.B. LL.D., ''A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire, new edition'' (1883; reprint,

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1978), page 492. On his death without issue in 1859, the Earldom of Harborough became extinct and the Irish Barony of Sherard passed to his kinsman, Philip Castell Sherard, a great-great-great-great-grandson of the 1st Baron Sherard.

Personal life

Lord Harborough had a relationship with, but never married, Emma Sarah ( Love) Calcroft Kennedy (1801–1881), a professional actress and

contralto A contralto () is a classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range is the lowest of their voice type, voice types. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare, similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to ...

singer. Emma had married Captain Granby Hales Calcraft in 1828 but ran off with Harborough the following year. Together, Emma and Robert had three illegitimate sons, including: * Rev. Bennet Sherard Calcraft Kennedy (1832–1886), who married Jane Stanley Wordsworth, a granddaughter of the poet

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...

. Their son was author and journalist Robert Harborough Sherard, a friend, and the first biographer, of

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

. * Edward Sherard Calcraft Kennedy (1837–1900), an artist who married Emily Paul in 1857 and, after their divorce, Florence Elizabeth Laing, a daughter of Samuel Laing. On 27 November 1843, Lord Harborough married Mary Eliza Temple (d. 1886), a daughter of Edward Dalby Temple, Esq. (only son of the Rev. Thomas William Temple) and the former Caroline Honywood (a daughter of Sir John Honywood, 4th Baronet and Lady Frances Courtenay, sister of William Courtenay, 9th Earl of Devon and twelfth daughter of William Courtenay, 2nd Viscount Courtenay and ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fa ...

'' 8th

Earl of Devon Earl of Devon is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of England. It was possessed first (after the Norman Conquest of 1066) by the Redvers family (''alias'' de Reviers, Revieres, etc.), and later by the Courtenay famil ...

). Lord Harborough died, without legitimate issue, on 28 July 1859. After his death. Lady Harborough married Maj. Thomas William Claggett of the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

, later a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

for

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, on 20 April 1864.

References

;Notes ;Sources

External links

House Sherard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harborough, Robert Sherard, 6th Earl of 1797 births 1859 deaths Robert Sherard, 6th Earl of Harborough Robert Sherard, 6th Earl of Harborough