Lord Charles Spencer

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable

| name = Lord Charles Spencer

| honorific-suffix = PC

| image = Joshua Reynolds - Lord Charles Spencer (1740-1820), Second son of the Third Duke of Marlborough - Google Art Project.jpg

| caption = Portrait of Lord Charles Spencer, by Joshua Reynolds

| office1 = Joint Postmaster General

| alongside1 = {{unbulleted list|The Lord Auckland (1801–1804) |The Duke of Montrose (1804–1806)}}

| term_start1 = 1801

| term_end1 = 1806

| monarch1 = George III

| primeminister1 = {{unbulleted list|Henry Addington |William Pitt the Younger}}

| predecessor1 = {{unbulleted list|The Lord Auckland |Earl Gower}}

| successor1 = {{unbulleted list|The Earl of Carysfort |The Earl of Buckinghamshire}}

| office2 = Master of the Mint

| term_start2 = 1806

| term_end2 = 1806

| monarch2 = George III

| primeminister2 = William Pitt the Younger

| predecessor2 = The Earl Bathurst

| successor2 = Charles Bathurst

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1740|03|31}}

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1820|06|16|1740|03|31}}

| death_place =

| nationality = British

| party =

| alma_mater =

| spouse = {{marriage|Mary Beauclerk |1762|1812|end=d}}

| children = Robert Spencer
John Spencer
William Robert Spencer

| parents = Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough
Hon. Elizabeth Trevor

| relations =

}}

Lord Charles Spencer PC (31 March 1740 – 16 June 1820) was a British courtier and politician from the Spencer family who sat in the House of Commons between 1761 and 1801.

Early life

Spencer was born on 31 March 1740. He was the second son of Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough, and the Hon. Elizabeth Trevor, daughter of Thomas Trevor, 2nd Baron Trevor. George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough, was his elder brother.{{cite ODNB|id=26118|title=Spencer, Charles|orig-year=2004|year=2010|last=Cannon|first=John}}

Career

Spencer sat as Member of Parliament for Oxfordshire from 1761 to 1790 and 1796 to 1801{{cite web| url = http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/spencer-lord-charles-1740-1820| title= SPENCER, Lord Charles (1740–1820), of Wheatfield, Oxon..| publisher= History of Parliament Online| access-date = 3 December 2017}} and was sworn of the Privy Council in 1763.{{London Gazette |issue=10306 |date=19 April 1763 |page=1 }}

He served as Comptroller of the Household from 1763 to 1765, as a Junior Lord of the Admiralty from 1768 to 1779 and as Treasurer of the Chamber from 1779 to 1782, when that sinecure post was abolished. He was later Postmaster General from 1801 to 1806 and Master of the Mint in 1806. From 1806 until his death, he was a Gentleman of the Bedchamber to George III.{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol11/pp14-19|title=Gentlemen of the Bedchamber 1660–1702, 1714–1837|publisher= British History Online|access-date= 29 November 2017}}

Personal life

File:Reynolds-joshua-sir--lady-charles-spencer-792789.jpg

On 2 October 1762, Spencer was married to Lady Mary Beauclerk (1743–1812), a daughter of Vere Beauclerk, 1st Baron Vere and the sister of Aubrey Beauclerk, 5th Duke of St Albans.Burkes Peerage (1939 edition), s.v Marlborough, Duke Together, they had three sons:{{cite web| url = http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/spencer-lord-charles-1740-1820| title= SPENCER, Lord Charles (1740–1820), of Wheatfield, Oxon..| publisher= History of Parliament Online| access-date = 3 December 2017}}

Robert Spencer (1764–1831), who married Henrietta ({{nee}} Fawkener) Bouverie, a daughter of Sir Everard Fawkener,{{cite book |last1=Stephens |first1=Frederic George |title=English Children, as Painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds: An Essay on Some of the Characteristics of Reynolds as a Painter, with Especial Reference to His Portraiture of Children |date=1884 |publisher=Seeley, Jackson and Halliday |page=19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4p8aAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA19 |access-date=30 January 2023 |language=en}} and widow of Hon. Edward Bouverie, in 1811.{{cite book |last1=Troide |first1=Lars E. |title=Early Journals and Letters of Fanny Burney, Volume 2 |date=1 February 1991 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press |isbn=978-0-7735-8510-2 |page=196 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e-C_suNd7AcC&pg=PA196 |access-date=30 January 2023 |language=en}}
John Spencer (1767–1831), MP for Wilton who married his cousin, Lady Elizabeth Spencer, a daughter of the 4th Duke of Marlborough.{{cite web |title=SPENCER, John (1767-1831), of Wheatfield, Oxon. |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/spencer-john-1767-1831 |website=www.historyofparliamentonline.org |publisher=History of Parliament Online |access-date=30 January 2023}}
William Robert Spencer (1769–1834), who married Countess Susan von Jenison-Walworth.{{cite book |last1=Hicks |first1=Carola |title=Improper Pursuits: The Scandalous Life of an Earlier Lady Diana Spencer |date=19 August 2014 |publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-4668-7864-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b9HrAwAAQBAJ |access-date=30 January 2023 |language=en}}