Richard Lumley, 2nd Earl of Scarbrough

For other people named Richard Lumley, see Richard Lumley (disambiguation).

Richard Lumley, 2nd Earl of Scarbrough by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt.^[1]

Richard Lumley, 2nd Earl of Scarbrough KG PC (30 November 1686 – 29 January 1740) was a British Whig politician, known as Viscount Lumley from 1710 to 1721.

The second son of the 1st Earl of Scarbrough, Lumley was educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge.^[2] In 1708, he entered Parliament as MP for East Grinstead and took over from his recently deceased, elder brother as MP for Arundel in 1710. In 1715, he was called to the House of Lords in his father's barony of Lumley and fought against the Jacobites at Preston, Lancashire that year.

On 2 May 1721 he stood as proxy for Ernest, Duke of York at the baptism of William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland.

After inheriting his father's titles in 1721, Scarbrough became Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland and Colonel of the Coldstream Guards in 1722 and Master of the Horse in 1727, having been made a Knight of the Garter and admitted to the Privy Council. In 1739, he was one of the founding governors for the Foundling Hospital in London.

In 1740, aged 53, Lord Scarbrough committed suicide by shooting himself through the roof of the mouth; at the time of his death it was rumoured to have been brought on by a mental disorder he developed from a knock on the head when he had an accident in his carriage a few days before. This, however, seems to have been a story circulated by his friends to disguise the truth of the matter. He had been due to marry the dowager Duchess of Manchester, but she had betrayed a secret sensitive to the King, told to her by the Earl. The King, on discovering the error in judgement by his minister, proclaimed, "Lumley, you have lost a friend and I a good servant." It is thought that the honourable Earl could not bear this dishonour and took his own life as a direct result of the Duchess disclosing what he had told her in confidence.

Far from being an act resulting from mental disorder, there is contemporary evidence that he knew full well what he was doing. Books were discovered at the scene of his death laid open at specific places for the benefit of close friends.

He was buried on 4 February 1740 in Grosvenor Chapel, South Audley Street, Mayfair. The chapel stands today much as it did in 1740, despite there being no marker for the Earl.

Dying unmarried and without male issue, his titles passed to his brother, Thomas.

References

↑ National Portrait Gallery
↑ "Lumley, Richard (LMLY703R)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.

Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by John Conyers John Toke	Member of Parliament for East Grinstead 1708–1710 With: Henry Campion	Succeeded by John Conyers Leonard Gale
Preceded by Viscount Lumley The Viscount Shannon	Member of Parliament for Arundel 1710–1715 With: The Earl of Thomond	Succeeded by Henry Lumley Thomas Micklethwait
Military offices
Preceded by Hon. George Cholmondeley	Captain and Colonel of the 1st Troop Horse Grenadier Guards 1715–1717	Succeeded by Hon. John Fane
Preceded by The Earl Cadogan	Colonel of the Coldstream Guards 1722–1740	Succeeded by The Duke of Cumberland
Political offices
In Commission	Master of the Horse 1727–1734	Succeeded by The Duke of Richmond
Honorary titles
Preceded by The Earl of Scarbrough	Vice-Admiral of Durham 1710–1740	Vacant Title next held by The Earl of Darlington
	Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland 1722–1740	Succeeded by The Earl of Tankerville
	Custos Rotulorum of Northumberland 1722–1740	Succeeded by The Earl of Tankerville
Peerage of England
Preceded by Richard Lumley	Earl of Scarbrough 1721–1740	Succeeded by Thomas Lumley
Preceded by Richard Lumley	Baron Lumley (writ in acceleration) 1715–1740	Succeeded by Thomas Lumley

Cabinet of Sir Robert Walpole and The Viscount Townshend (1721–30)

First Lord of the Treasury Chancellor of the Exchequer Leader of the House of Commons	Sir Robert Walpole (1721–1730)

Northern Secretary	The Viscount Townshend (1721–1730)

Southern Secretary	The Earl Granville (1721–1724) The Duke of Newcastle (1724–1730)

Lord Chancellor	The Earl of Macclesfield (1721–1725) The Lord King (1725–1730)

Lord President of the Council	The Duke of Kingston (1721–1726) The Lord Trevor (1726–1730)

Lord Privy Seal	The Viscount Townshend (1721) The Lord Carleton (1721–1725) The Duke of Devonshire (1725–1730) The Lord Trevor (1730)

First Lord of the Admiralty	The Earl of Berkeley (1721–1727) The Viscount Torrington (1727–1730)

Master-General of the Ordnance	The Duke of Marlborough (1721–1722) The Earl Cadogan (1722–1725) The Duke of Argyll (1725–1730)

Paymaster of the Forces	The Lord Cornwallis (1721–1722) The Earl of Wilmington (1722–1730)

Lord Steward	The Duke of Argyll (1721–1725) The Duke of Dorset (1725–1730)

Lord Chamberlain	The Duke of Newcastle (1721–1724) The Duke of Grafton (1724–1730)

Master of the Horse	The Earl of Scarbrough (1727–1730)

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