Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Chesterfield
Encyclopedia
Privy Council of England
The Privy Council of England, also known as His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, was a body of advisers to the sovereign of the Kingdom of England...
(1634 – 28 January 1714) was a peer in the peerage of England.
Personal life
He was the son of Henry Stanhope, Lord StanhopeHenry Stanhope, Lord Stanhope
Henry Stanhope, Lord Stanhope KB , known as Sir Henry Stanhope until 1628, was an English noble and politician.He was the second and next surviving son of Philip Stanhope, 1st Earl of Chesterfield and his wife first Catherine, daughter of Francis Hastings, Lord Hastings, oldest son of George...
and his wife, Katherine Wotton
Katherine Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield
Katherine Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield was the governess and confidante of Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange.She was born eldest daughter to Thomas Wotton, 2nd Baron Wotton and his wife, Mary, daughter of Sir Arthur Throckmorton of Paulerspury, Northamptonshire.She first married...
. He inherited the title of Earl of Chesterfield
Earl of Chesterfield
Earls of Chesterfield, in the County of Derby, was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1628 for Philip Stanhope, 1st Baron Stanhope. He had already been created Baron Stanhope, of Shelford in the County of Nottingham, in 1616, also in the Peerage of England. Stanhope's youngest son...
on the death of his grandfather in 1656. He was educated by Poliander, Professor of Divinity at Leyden (1640) and at the Prince of Orange's College at Breda. He received a DCL in 1669 from Oxford University.
His first marriage was to Lady Anne Percy, daughter of the Earl of Northumberland
Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland
Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland, 4th Baron Percy, KG was an English military leader and a prominent supporter of constitutional monarchy.-Family background:...
. Following her death, a marriage had been arranged between him and Mary, daughter of the 3rd Lord Fairfax
Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron
Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron was a general and parliamentary commander-in-chief during the English Civil War...
. Despite the fact the banns
Banns of marriage
The banns of marriage, commonly known simply as the "banns" or "bans" are the public announcement in a Christian parish church of an impending marriage between two specified persons...
had been read twice, Mary jilted Chesterfield for the 2nd Duke of Buckingham
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 20th Baron de Ros of Helmsley, KG, PC, FRS was an English statesman and poet.- Upbringing and education :...
with whom she had fallen in love. Chesterfield subsequently married Elizabeth Butler
Elizabeth Butler Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield
Elizabeth Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield was the second wife of Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Chesterfield, and the eldest daughter of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde and Lady Elizabeth Preston.-Marriage:...
, daughter of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde
James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde
James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde PC was an Irish statesman and soldier. He was the second of the Kilcash branch of the family to inherit the earldom. He was the friend of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, who appointeed him commander of the Cavalier forces in Ireland. From 1641 to 1647, he...
and his wife, Elizabeth Preston. They had one daughter, Lady Elizabeth
Elizabeth Lyon, Countess of Strathmore
Elizabeth Stanhope, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne , was an English noblewoman and the wife of Scottish peer John Lyon, 4th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. Born to Lady Elizabeth Butler and Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Chesterfield, her paternity was in doubt...
but it is not certain that Chesterfield was the father. Elizabeth died in 1665, and he married a third time, to Lady Elizabeth Dormer
Elizabeth Dormer Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield
Elizabeth Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield was the third wife of Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Chesterfield.Lady Elizabeth was the daughter of Charles Dormer, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon. She had two sons by the Earl of Chesterfield: Philip Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Chesterfield, and Charles Stanhope....
, who finally provided him with two sons.
According to Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
, Chesterfield was a ladies' man, and had been one of the many lovers of Barbara Villiers, the most notorious mistress of King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
. His second wife, tired of his neglect, began flirting with the king's brother, the Duke of York
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
, and also with James Hamilton
James Hamilton (colonel)
James Hamilton was an Irish courtier and soldier, the eldest son of Sir George Hamilton, 1st Baronet and Mary Butler.Like his younger brothers, he chose a military career, and became a colonel. A favorite of Charles II, he was appointed Ranger of Hyde Park in 1660 and Groom of the Bedchamber on 28...
.
He was imprisoned in the Tower of London for wounding Captain John Whalley in a duel (1658) and on suspicion of involvement in Sir George Booth's rising (1659). He also killed a man in a duel, fled to France, and having obtained pardon from Charles II, returned to England in his train (1660).
Career
He was Lord Chamberlain to Catherine of Braganza (1662–1665) and a member of her Council (1670). He was Colonel of a regiment of foot (1667, 1682), a Privy Councillor (1681)and the Warden of the royal forests south of Trent (1679).He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in November 1708
On his death at home in Middlesex he was buried in Shelford, Nottinghamshire.