Harry George Powlett, 4th Duke of Cleveland (19 April 1803 – 21 August 1891), styled The Honourable Harry Vane until 1827 and Lord Harry Vane from 1827 to 1864, who in 1864 adopted by Royal Licence the surname and arms of Powlett in lieu of Vane, was an English landowner, diplomat and Whig statesman. During the crisis which led to the collapse of Lord Russell's

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

in 1866 over the question of parliamentary reform, he was considered a possible compromise

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

in a Whig-

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

anti-reform coalition government, but such plans came to nothing.

Origins

Vane was the third son of

William Vane, 1st Duke of Cleveland William Henry Vane, 1st Duke of Cleveland, KG (27 July 1766 – 29 January 1842), styled Viscount Barnard until 1792 and known as The Earl of Darlington between 1792 and 1827 and as The Marquess of Cleveland between 1827 and 1833, was a Britis ...

KG (1766–1842), by his wife Lady Catherine Margaret Powlett, daughter of Admiral Harry Powlett, 6th Duke of Bolton (1720–1794). His elder brothers were Henry Vane, 2nd Duke of Cleveland KG (1788–1864), and

William Vane, 3rd Duke of Cleveland William John Frederick Vane, 3rd Duke of Cleveland (3 April 1792 – 6 September 1864), styled The Hon. William Vane from 1792 to 1813, The Hon. William Powlett from 1813 to 1827 and Lord William Powlett from 1827 to 1864, was a British polit ...

(1792–1864).

Career

Vane was educated at Oriel College, Oxford.thepeerage.com Harry George Powlett, 4th Duke of Cleveland
/ref> He entered the foreign service and held posts in Paris and Stockholm before entering the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

in 1841 as a member of parliament for

South Durham South Durham, formally the Southern Division of Durham and often referred to as Durham Southern, was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected two M ...

, which seat he held until 1859, when he switched to

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

, which he represented until his accession to the dukedom and elevation to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

on the death of his brother on 6 September 1864. On 18 November 1864 he adopted by Royal License the surname and arms of Powlett in lieu of his patronymic, in accordance with the will of his maternal grandmother the Duchess of Bolton (Katherine Lowther (d.1809), daughter of Robert Lowther, sister of

James Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale James Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale (5 August 173624 May 1802) was an English country landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons for 27 years from 1757 to 1784, when he was raised to the Peerage of Great Britain as Earl of Lonsda ...

, and wife of the 6th Duke of Bolton). He was made a

Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George ...

in 1865. During the crisis which led to the collapse in 1866 of Lord Russell's second ministry over the question of parliamentary reform, he was considered a possible compromise

in a Whig-

anti-reform coalition government, but such plans came to nothing. In 1867 he served as treasurer of the Salop Infirmary in Shrewsbury, and in 1885 financed the rebuilding of the parish church at Uppington, Shropshire where part of his estates were.

Marriage

Chevening Chevening House () is a large country house in the parish of Chevening in Kent, in Southeast England. Built between 1617 and 1630 to a design reputedly by Inigo Jones and greatly extended after 1717, it is a Grade I listed building. The surr ...

on 2 August 1854, Vane married Lady Dalmeny (1819–1901), the daughter of

Philip Henry Stanhope, 4th Earl Stanhope Philip Henry Stanhope, 4th Earl Stanhope FRS (7 December 1781 – 2 March 1855), was an English aristocrat, chiefly remembered for his role in the Kaspar Hauser case during the 1830s. Origins He was the eldest son and heir of Charles Stanhope, 3 ...

and widow of Archibald Primrose, Lord Dalmeny, by whom she was the mother of

Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian, (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death o ...

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern ...

, who was seven years old at that time. The marriage was without issue.

Death and succession

Cleveland died in August 1891, aged 88, at his London

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...

Cleveland House, 16

St James's Square St James's Square is the only square in the St James's district of the City of Westminster and is a garden square. It has predominantly Georgian and Neo-Georgian architecture. For its first two hundred or so years it was one of the three or f ...

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, London. Thereupon the line of succession to his peerages became unclear. In 1891 the Committee of Privileges of the

declared the title of

Duke of Cleveland Duke of Cleveland was a title that was created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The dukedoms were named after Cleveland in northern England. The first creation in 1670 (along with the barony ...

extinct but declared Henry de Vere Vane to be the rightful heir of the title

Baron Barnard Baron Barnard, of Barnard Castle in the Bishopric of Durham, is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1698 for Christopher Vane, who had previously served as a member of parliament for County Durham and Boroughbridge. Vane was ...

and to the estates of

Raby Castle Raby Castle () is a medieval castle located near Staindrop in County Durham, England, among of deer park. It was built by John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby, between approximately 1367 and 1390. Cecily Neville, the mother of the Kings Ed ...

and

Barnard Castle Barnard Castle (, ) is a market town on the north bank of the River Tees, in County Durham, Northern England. The town is named after and built around a medieval castle ruin. The town's Bowes Museum's has an 18th-century Silver Swan automato ...

, which latter had been purchased in 1626 by the Vane family.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cleveland, Harry Powlett, 4th Duke of 1803 births 1891 deaths Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Dukes of Cleveland Knights of the Garter Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 Cleveland, D4

Harry Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

Presidents of the Oxford Union Barons Barnard