George Brudenell-Bruce, 4th Marquess of Ailesbury
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{{infobox noble
| name = {{small|{{nobold|The Most Honourable}}}}
The Marquess of Ailesbury
| image = Marquess of Ailesbury Vanity Fair 7 April 1888.jpg
| caption = William Brudenell-Bruce, 4th Marquess of Ailesbury, as caricatured by Liborio Prosperi in Vanity Fair, April 1888
| succession = Marquess of Ailesbury
| reign = 1883–1894
| reign-type = Tenure
| predecessor = Ernest Brudenell-Bruce
| successor = Henry Brudenell-Bruce
| birth_name = George William Thomas Brudenell-Bruce
| birth_date = {{birth date|1863|06|08|df=yes}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1894|04|10|1863|06|08|df=yes}}
| death_place = Brixton, England
| spouse = {{marriage|Dorothy Julia Haseley|1884}}
| father = George John Brudenell-Bruce
| mother = Evelyn Mary Craven
}}
George William Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, 4th Marquess of Ailesbury (8 June 1863 – 10 April 1894), styled Viscount Savernake from 1878 to 1886, was the son of George John Brudenell-Bruce and Lady Evelyn Mary Craven, and succeeded his grandfather as 4th Marquess on the latter's death on 18 October 1886. On his death in 1894 he was succeeded in the marquessate, and his other titles, by his uncle. According to family records, he went by the name William and was known informally as Willie.Wardens, page 310 as "dear Willie". Wardens, page 312 as "poor, unfortunate Willie", cited from 3rd Marquess Ailesbury's diary
Early life
Brudenell-Bruce was born on 8 June 1863. In his youth, he attended Eton, but got into trouble, and left the school "under a cloud".Wardens, page 310.
Career
On 1 July 1881 he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the part-time 3rd (Royal Berkshire Militia) Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment, and resigned on 11 April 1886.Army List.Thoyts, pp. 209, 212.
=Gambling problems=
He became a habitual gambler, forcing his grandfather to step in and pay hundreds of thousands of pounds to satisfy his creditors. In the process of paying off certain creditors, the 3rd Marquess was forced to sell the family's Yorkshire properties to raise the more than £175,000 of debt Willie had amassed.Wardens, page 313. Upon succeeding his grandfather in the family estates, Willie's propensity for gambling only increased, and he soon found his entire estate approaching bankruptcy, amassing another huge round of debts exceeding 230,000 GBP.Wardens, page 318
During the legal proceedings in 1891,{{cite news |title=AN IMPOVERISHED PEER.; THE MARQUIS OF AILESBURY PERMITTED TO SELL SAVERNAKE FOREST. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1891/12/13/archives/an-impoverished-peer-the-marquis-of-ailesbury-permitted-to-sell.html |access-date=13 September 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=13 December 1891}}{{cite news |last1=Gazette |first1=the Pall Mall |title=SALE OF AILESBURY'S SAVERNAKE ESTATE. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1891/12/27/archives/sale-of-ailesburys-savernake-estate.html |access-date=13 September 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=27 December 1891}} many offers were made to buy the great Savernake estates, including one by Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, then chairman of the board and former CEO of the Guinness Company,Wardens, page 319. to purchase Savernake for £750,000.{{cite news |title=DEBTS OF AILESBURY.; PROBABLE PURCHASER OF SAVERNAKE -- THE MARQUIS'S MARRIAGE. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1892/03/05/archives/debts-of-ailesbury-probable-purchaser-of-savernake-the-marquiss.html |access-date=13 September 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=5 March 1892}} However, the Board of Trustees of Savernake, headed by Ailesbury's uncle, Lord Henry Brudenell-Bruce, fought hard to prevent Ailesbury from selling.Wardens, page 321.{{cite news |title=A GREAT ESTATE WASTED.; THE MARQUIS OF AILESBURY'S DEBTS FAR EXCEED HIS ASSETS. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1892/12/21/archives/a-great-estate-wasted-the-marquis-of-ailesburys-debts-far-exceed.html |access-date=13 September 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=21 December 1892}} After years of legal battles and appeals, Edward Guinness, by then known as Lord Iveagh, became impatient and withdrew his offer, after a 1 May 1893 deadline was not met.Wardens, page 327. Not long after that, Ailesbury suffered an untimely death, brought about by a sudden illness, and due mainly to his excessive lifestyle.Wardens, page 330.
The April 1888 Vanity Fair caricature of William was originally published with a caption that is quoted, in part: "Lord Ailesbury is at bottom an excellently good creature ... But he can rarely remember not to forget himself."Wardens, plate 14, facing page 316
Family
On 6 May 1884, Willie married the daughter of Thomas Haseley, an actress named Dorothy Julia Haseley, better known to [contemporary] theatre-goers as "Dolly Tester".{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article53687416 |title=Death of the Marquis of Ailesbury |newspaper=South Australian Register |volume=LIX |issue=14,792 |location=South Australia |date=11 April 1894 |accessdate=26 June 2022 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}} The marriage produced no children.
Lord Ailesbury died, aged 30, on 10 April 1894 at Leander-road, Brixton, from heart disease. He was succeeded by his uncle, Henry Brudenell-Bruce.{{cite news |title=DEATH OF THE MARQUESS OF AILESBURY. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-death-of-the-marquess-of-ai/40801451/ |access-date=13 September 2023 |work=The Standard |date=11 Apr 1894 |page=2}}
Notes
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References
- {{cite book |author-link=Cedric Brudenell-Bruce, 7th Marquess of Ailesbury |author=The Earl of Cardigan |publisher=Routledge & Paul |title=The Wardens of Savernake Forest |date=1949 }}
- Emma Elizabeth Thoyts, History of the Royal Berkshire Militia (Now 3rd Battalion Royal Berks Regiment), Sulhamstead, Berks, 1897/Scholar Select, ISBN 978-1-37645405-5.
External links
- {{Hansard-contribs | mr-george-brudenell-bruce-2 | George Brudenell-Bruce, 4th Marquess of Ailesbury }}
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{{succession box | title=Marquess of Ailesbury | before= Ernest Brudenell-Bruce | after=Henry Brudenell-Bruce | years= 1883–1894 }}
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