Du Pre Alexander, 2nd Earl of Caledon
Encyclopedia
Du Pré Alexander, 2nd Earl of Caledon KP (14 December 1777 – 8 April 1839), styled The Honourable from 1790 to 1800 and then Viscount Alexander to 1802, was an Irish peer, landlord and colonial administrator, and was the second child and only son of James Alexander, 1st Earl of Caledon
.
in England
and later at Christ Church, Oxford
. He was elected Member of Parliament
for Newtownards
in 1800 and sat in the Irish House of Commons
until the Act of Union in 1801. In the latter year, he was appointed High Sheriff of Armagh
. He succeeded to the title of Earl of Caledon on the death of his father in 1802 and was elected a Representative Peer for Ireland
in 1804.
in what is now South Africa
. He was the first governor on the Cape's cession to United Kingdom; the Caledon River
and the district Caledon, Western Cape
there are named after him. Lord Caledon was not, literally, the first British civil governor of the Cape, having been preceded in that capacity by Lord Macartney
and Sir George Yonge
, successive holders of the office between the first conquest of the Cape, and its cession back to the Dutch under the terms of the Peace of Amiens of 1802. Rather, Lord Caledon was the first civil governor after the Cape's reconquest from the Dutch by General Sir David Baird
in 1806. The question of the relationship between the civil and the military authorities of the colony, personified in Lord Caledon's relationship with the Commander-in-Chief, General Sir Henry Grey, was the most troublesome of the former's period of office as Governor, and the issue on which he resigned in June 1811.
Less than three years after his departure, in March 1814, an open letter was written defending his record as Governor. The writer, Colonel Christopher Bird, Deputy Colonial Secretary at the Cape (subsequently Colonial Secretary), was well qualified to speak, although his partisanship on Lord Caledon's behalf is unconcealed. In another part of the Caledon Papers, Lord Caledon's own appraisal of his Governorship of the Cape is to be found. It occurs in the course of a letter which he wrote to the Prime Minister, the 2nd Earl of Liverpool, in 1818 stating his claims to be given a peerage of the United Kingdom: '... The administration of the colonial government during my residence there for a term of four years, was more than usually arduous, in consequence of my being the first civil governor after the capture of the settlement, and from there being no records of a former British government in any of the public offices at The Cape. ... I hope I shall be excused for stating that, upon my own responsibility and under the most embarrassing circumstances, occasioned by the loss of four British frigates which were to have protected the convoy, I detached 2,000 infantry to co-operate with the force from India in the reduction of the Mauritius
. In a letter from Lord Minto
[Governor General of India] upon that occasion, he acknowledges the public service I rendered, not only as relating to the fall of the Mauritius, but adds that it was to the co-operation I afforded he was indebted for the means of moving against Java
. ...'.
, whom he returned for the notoriously rotten borough
of Old Sarum
, Wiltshire. He had bought this borough and estate in 1802, for c.£43,000, with a view to increasing his claims to some form of suitable official employment. Though he consistently denied that his appointment to the Cape had been a 'political' one, it was undeniable that the seats for Old Sarum had been an added recommendation. Doubt therefore arose as to whether he owed a political loyalty to the home government for the time being, or to the Grenville administration which had appointed him and which had fallen from power soon afterwards, in March 1807. There is correspondence on this subject with Lord Grenville himself, Porcher and Vansittart; also with Lord Castlereagh, who held office in the government which succeeded Grenville's. The Caledon Cape Papers illuminate this shadowy area between political and public service.
and Lady Elizabeth Lindsay, on 16 October 1811 in St. James' Church, Westminster, and had issue:
With this marriage the Caledon family effectively inherited Tyttenhanger House near St Albans
, Hertfordshire
, which had belonged to the 3rd Earl of Hardwicke's grandmother, Katherine Freeman, the sister and heiress of Sir Henry Pope Blount, 3rd and last Baronet. Sir Henry died in 1757 without issue, leaving his sister Katherine, the wife of Rev. William Freeman, his heir. She left an only daughter, Catherine, who married Charles Yorke, second son of Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke
, whose son Philip, 3rd Earl of Hardwicke, on his death in 1834, left four daughters, to the second of whom, Catherine, the wife of the 2nd Earl of Caledon, came the manor of Tyttenhanger.
Lord Caledon was invested as a Knight of St Patrick on 20 August 1821 and was appointed Lord Lieutenant of County Tyrone in 1831. He died on 8 April 1839 at Caledon
, aged 61, much mourned by his tenants in the model town of Caledon, which he had rebuilt and enlarged so sympathetically. A loyal address from the tenantry issued a few years earlier alludes to his 'acts of liberality, munificence and kindness' and there is plenty of evidence to confirm that this was no mere empty elegy. 'Lord Caledon', wrote Inglis in his book Ireland (1834), 'is all that could be desire - a really good resident country gentleman'.
Lady Caledon died on 8 July 1863, having bequeathed Tyttenhanger to her daughter-in-law Jane, with an entail
upon her four children and, according to one source, the estate descended to her eldest son James Alexander, 4th Earl of Caledon
, who died in 1898. His widow became lady of the manor and held it in trust for her children. Other sources indicate that Tyttenhanger was the home of Lady Jane Van Koughnet, the daughter of the 4th Earl of Caledon, and her husband, Commander E. B. Van Koughnet, until her death in 1941. The house was sold in 1973.
James Alexander, 1st Earl of Caledon
James Alexander, 1st Earl of Caledon was an Irish landlord, merchant, politician and peer of the realm. The second son of Alderman Nathaniel Alexander of Derry, he was the effective founder of the Caledon family, and certainly the founder of its fortune.-An Irish 'nabob':Alexander began his career...
.
Education and Inheritance
He was educated from 1790 to 1796 at Eton CollegeEton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and later at Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
. He was elected Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Newtownards
Newtownards (Parliament of Ireland constituency)
Newtownards was a constituency represented in the Irish House of Commons until 1800.-1692–1801:...
in 1800 and sat in the Irish House of Commons
Irish House of Commons
The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords...
until the Act of Union in 1801. In the latter year, he was appointed High Sheriff of Armagh
High Sheriff of Armagh
The High Sheriff of Armagh is the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Armagh. Initially an office for lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the High Sheriff became annually appointed from the Provisions of Oxford in 1258...
. He succeeded to the title of Earl of Caledon on the death of his father in 1802 and was elected a Representative Peer for Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in 1804.
Governor of the Cape
In July 1806 he was appointed Governor of the Cape of Good HopeCape Colony
The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...
in what is now South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. He was the first governor on the Cape's cession to United Kingdom; the Caledon River
Caledon River
The Caledon River is located in south-east Africa, rising in the Drakensberg Mountains in Lesotho. Origin in the former bantustan of QwaQwa, near the border with Lesotho, southwest of Witsieshoek. It then flows south-west, marking the border with South Africa and Lesotho before entering South...
and the district Caledon, Western Cape
Caledon, Western Cape
Caledon is a town in the Overberg region in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located about east of Cape Town. it had a population of 10,650. It is located in, and the seat of, the Theewaterskloof Local Municipality....
there are named after him. Lord Caledon was not, literally, the first British civil governor of the Cape, having been preceded in that capacity by Lord Macartney
George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney
George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney, KB was an Irish-born British statesman, colonial administrator and diplomat. He is often remembered for his observation following Britain's success in the Seven Years War and subsequent territorial expansion at the Treaty of Paris that Britain now controlled...
and Sir George Yonge
George Yonge
Sir George Yonge, 5th Baronet, KCB, PC was a British Secretary at War and the namesake of Yonge Street, a principal road in Toronto, Canada, which was named in 1793 by the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada John Graves Simcoe...
, successive holders of the office between the first conquest of the Cape, and its cession back to the Dutch under the terms of the Peace of Amiens of 1802. Rather, Lord Caledon was the first civil governor after the Cape's reconquest from the Dutch by General Sir David Baird
Sir David Baird, 1st Baronet
General Sir David Baird, 1st Baronet GCB was a British military leader.-Military career:He was born at Newbyth House in Haddingtonshire, Scotland, the son of an Edinburgh merchant family, and entered the British Army in 1772. He was sent to India in 1779 with the 73rd Highlanders, in which he...
in 1806. The question of the relationship between the civil and the military authorities of the colony, personified in Lord Caledon's relationship with the Commander-in-Chief, General Sir Henry Grey, was the most troublesome of the former's period of office as Governor, and the issue on which he resigned in June 1811.
Less than three years after his departure, in March 1814, an open letter was written defending his record as Governor. The writer, Colonel Christopher Bird, Deputy Colonial Secretary at the Cape (subsequently Colonial Secretary), was well qualified to speak, although his partisanship on Lord Caledon's behalf is unconcealed. In another part of the Caledon Papers, Lord Caledon's own appraisal of his Governorship of the Cape is to be found. It occurs in the course of a letter which he wrote to the Prime Minister, the 2nd Earl of Liverpool, in 1818 stating his claims to be given a peerage of the United Kingdom: '... The administration of the colonial government during my residence there for a term of four years, was more than usually arduous, in consequence of my being the first civil governor after the capture of the settlement, and from there being no records of a former British government in any of the public offices at The Cape. ... I hope I shall be excused for stating that, upon my own responsibility and under the most embarrassing circumstances, occasioned by the loss of four British frigates which were to have protected the convoy, I detached 2,000 infantry to co-operate with the force from India in the reduction of the Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
. In a letter from Lord Minto
Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto
Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto PC , known as Sir Gilbert Elliott between 1777 and 1797 and as The Lord Minto between 1797 and 1813, was a Scottish politician diplomat....
[Governor General of India] upon that occasion, he acknowledges the public service I rendered, not only as relating to the fall of the Mauritius, but adds that it was to the co-operation I afforded he was indebted for the means of moving against Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
. ...'.
"Rotten borough"
Other political correspondence in the Caledon Papers, in this case during the Governorship years, relates to Lord Caledon's relations with the government at home and, in particular, to the parliamentary conduct of the two members, Josias Du Pré Porcher and Nicholas VansittartNicholas Vansittart, 1st Baron Bexley
Nicholas Vansittart, 1st Baron Bexley PC, FRS, FSA was an English politician, and one of the longest-serving Chancellors of the Exchequer in British history.-Background and education:...
, whom he returned for the notoriously rotten borough
Rotten borough
A "rotten", "decayed" or pocket borough was a parliamentary borough or constituency in the United Kingdom that had a very small electorate and could be used by a patron to gain undue and unrepresentative influence within Parliament....
of Old Sarum
Old Sarum (UK Parliament constituency)
Old Sarum was the most infamous of the so-called 'rotten boroughs', a parliamentary constituency of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which was effectively controlled by a single person, until it was abolished under the Reform Act 1832. The constituency was the site of what had been...
, Wiltshire. He had bought this borough and estate in 1802, for c.£43,000, with a view to increasing his claims to some form of suitable official employment. Though he consistently denied that his appointment to the Cape had been a 'political' one, it was undeniable that the seats for Old Sarum had been an added recommendation. Doubt therefore arose as to whether he owed a political loyalty to the home government for the time being, or to the Grenville administration which had appointed him and which had fallen from power soon afterwards, in March 1807. There is correspondence on this subject with Lord Grenville himself, Porcher and Vansittart; also with Lord Castlereagh, who held office in the government which succeeded Grenville's. The Caledon Cape Papers illuminate this shadowy area between political and public service.
Marriage and Tyttenhanger
Lord Caledon married Lady Catherine Yorke, daughter of Philip Yorke, 3rd Earl of HardwickePhilip Yorke, 3rd Earl of Hardwicke
Philip Yorke, 3rd Earl of Hardwicke KG, PC, FRS , known as Philip Yorke until 1790, was a British politician.-Background and education:...
and Lady Elizabeth Lindsay, on 16 October 1811 in St. James' Church, Westminster, and had issue:
- James Du Pre Alexander, 3rd Earl of Caledon (27 July 1812 – 30 June 1855)
With this marriage the Caledon family effectively inherited Tyttenhanger House near St Albans
St Albans
St Albans is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans. It is a historic market town, and is now a sought-after dormitory town within the London commuter belt...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, which had belonged to the 3rd Earl of Hardwicke's grandmother, Katherine Freeman, the sister and heiress of Sir Henry Pope Blount, 3rd and last Baronet. Sir Henry died in 1757 without issue, leaving his sister Katherine, the wife of Rev. William Freeman, his heir. She left an only daughter, Catherine, who married Charles Yorke, second son of Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke
Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke
Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke PC was an English lawyer and politician who served as Lord Chancellor. He was a close confidant of the Duke of Newcastle, Prime Minister between 1754 and 1756 and 1757 until 1762....
, whose son Philip, 3rd Earl of Hardwicke, on his death in 1834, left four daughters, to the second of whom, Catherine, the wife of the 2nd Earl of Caledon, came the manor of Tyttenhanger.
Lord Caledon was invested as a Knight of St Patrick on 20 August 1821 and was appointed Lord Lieutenant of County Tyrone in 1831. He died on 8 April 1839 at Caledon
Caledon, County Tyrone
Caledon , historically known as Kinnaird , is a small village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is in the Clogher Valley on the banks of the River Blackwater, 7 miles from Armagh. It lies in the southeast of Tyrone and near the borders of County Armagh and County Monaghan. In the...
, aged 61, much mourned by his tenants in the model town of Caledon, which he had rebuilt and enlarged so sympathetically. A loyal address from the tenantry issued a few years earlier alludes to his 'acts of liberality, munificence and kindness' and there is plenty of evidence to confirm that this was no mere empty elegy. 'Lord Caledon', wrote Inglis in his book Ireland (1834), 'is all that could be desire - a really good resident country gentleman'.
Lady Caledon died on 8 July 1863, having bequeathed Tyttenhanger to her daughter-in-law Jane, with an entail
Fee tail
At common law, fee tail or entail is an estate of inheritance in real property which cannot be sold, devised by will, or otherwise alienated by the owner, but which passes by operation of law to the owner's heirs upon his death...
upon her four children and, according to one source, the estate descended to her eldest son James Alexander, 4th Earl of Caledon
James Alexander, 4th Earl of Caledon
James Alexander, 4th Earl of Caledon KP, DL was a soldier and politician and the son of James Du Pre Alexander, 3rd Earl of Caledon and Lady Jane Grimston, styled Viscount Alexander until 1855....
, who died in 1898. His widow became lady of the manor and held it in trust for her children. Other sources indicate that Tyttenhanger was the home of Lady Jane Van Koughnet, the daughter of the 4th Earl of Caledon, and her husband, Commander E. B. Van Koughnet, until her death in 1941. The house was sold in 1973.