George Brudenell-Bruce, 2nd Marquess of Ailesbury

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = The Most Honourable

| name = The Marquess of Ailesbury

| honorific-suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KG|PC|DL}}

| image = John Hayter (1800-1891) - George William Frederick Brudenell-Bruce (1804–1878), 2nd Marquess of Ailesbury ^ 8th Earl of Cardigan, KG, PC - 609059 - National Trust.jpg

| order1 = Master of the Horse

| term_start1 = 24 June 1859

| term_end1 = 26 June 1866

| monarch1 = Victoria

| primeminister1 = The Viscount Palmerston
The Earl Russell

| predecessor1 = The Duke of Beaufort

| successor1 = The Duke of Beaufort

| term_start2 = 12 December 1868

| term_end2 = 17 February 1874

| monarch2 = Victoria

| primeminister2 = William Ewart Gladstone

| predecessor2 = The Duke of Beaufort

| successor2 = The Earl of Bradford

| birth_date = {{birth-date|20 November 1804|}}

| birth_place = Lower Grosvenor Street, London

| death_date = {{death-date and age|6 January 1878|20 November 1804}}

| death_place = Lockeridge House, Wiltshire

| party = Liberal

| alma_mater = Christ Church, Oxford

| spouse = Lady Mary Herbert (1813–1892)

| parents = Charles Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Marquess of Ailesbury
The Hon. Henrietta Hill

}}

George William Frederick Brudenell-Bruce, 2nd Marquess of Ailesbury (20 November 1804 – 6 January 1878), styled Lord Bruce between 1814 and 1821 and Earl Bruce between 1821 and 1856, was a British peer, Liberal politician and courtier.

Background and education

Born in Lower Grosvenor Street, London, Bruce was the oldest son of Charles Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Marquess of Ailesbury, and his first wife the Hon. Henrietta Hill, oldest daughter of Noel Hill, 1st Baron Berwick.{{cite book | last = Dod | first = Robert P. | title = The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland | year = 1860 | publisher = Whitaker and Co. | location = London | pages = 85 }} He was the brother of Ernest Brudenell-Bruce, 3rd Marquess of Ailesbury, and the half-brother of Lord Charles Brudenell-Bruce. He was baptised at St George's, Hanover Square, with King George III and Queen Charlotte as his godparents. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford. In 1856, he succeeded to his father's titles and, in 1868, to those of his distant cousin James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan.

Career

Bruce entered the British House of Commons in 1826, representing Marlborough as Member of Parliament (MP) until 1829.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=House of Commons: Macclesfield to Marylebone West|url=http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Mcommons1.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090810231646/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Mcommons1.htm|archive-date=10 August 2009|access-date=24 November 2009|url-status=usurped|website=leighrayment.com}} In 1838, he was summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration in his father's subsidiary title Baron Bruce.{{London Gazette |issue=19633 |date=6 July 1838 |page=1533 }} He was appointed Yeomanry Aide to Queen Victoria in 1857 and was invested as a Privy Counsellor in 1859.{{London Gazette |issue=22276 |date=18 June 1859 |page=2401 }} Ailesbury held political office under Lord Palmerston and Lord Russell as Master of the Horse between 1859 and 1866. Having previously been a Deputy Lieutenant, he became Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire in 1863.{{London Gazette |issue=22721 |date=27 March 1863 |page=1750 }} On 25 May 1864, he was invested as a Knight of the Garter.{{London Gazette |issue=22857 |date=24 May 1864 |page=2728 }} He was once again Master of the Horse, this time under William Ewart Gladstone, between 1868 and 1874.

Family and death

On 11 May 1837, Lord Ailesbury married Lady Mary Herbert,{{cite web|title=Mary Caroline (née Herbert), Marchioness of Ailesbury (1813–1892), Wife of 2nd Marquess of Ailesbury; daughter of 11th Earl of Pembroke|url=http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person.php?LinkID=mp70384|publisher=National Portrait Gallery, London}} third daughter of George Herbert, 11th Earl of Pembroke, in the church where he was baptised. Brudenell-Bruce died in 1878, aged 73, at Lockeridge House, near Marlborough, Wiltshire, and was buried there.

Because he had no issue, his titles were inherited by his younger brother, Ernest Brudenell-Bruce. The Marchioness of Ailesbury died at 78 Pall Mall, London, in January 1892, aged 78. She is buried in St Katharine's Church, Great Bedwyn.{{Cite book |author-last1=Baggs |author-first1=A. P. |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol16/pp8-49 |title=A History of the County of Wiltshire, Volume 16 |author-last2=Freeman |author-first2=J. |author-last3=Smith |author-first3=C. |author-last4=Stevenson |author-first4=J. H. |author-last5=Williamson |author-first5=E. |date=1999 |publisher=University of London |editor-last=Crowley |editor-first=D. A. |series=Victoria County History |pages=8–49 |chapter=Great Bedwyn |access-date=5 February 2025 |via=British History Online}}