The Earl Cairns | |
|---|---|
 Earl Cairns as caricatured by "Spy" (Leslie Ward) inVanity Fair, January 1886. | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Arthur William Cairns (1861-12-21)21 December 1861 London, England |
| Died | 14 January 1890(1890-01-14) (aged 28) Mayfair, London |
| Spouse | |
| Relations | Herbert Cairns, 3rd Earl Cairns (brother) |
| Parent(s) | Hugh Cairns, 1st Earl Cairns Mary Harriet MacNeile |
| Education | Wellington College Eton College |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
Arthur William Cairns, 2nd Earl Cairns (21 December 1861 – 14 January 1890), was a British aristocrat, succeeding to the title on the death of his father, the first Earl Cairns, on 2 April 1885.[1][2]
Born in London in 1861, he was the second but eldest surviving son of Mary Harriet (née MacNeile; 1833–1919) andHugh MacCalmont Cairns, 1st Earl Cairns, a British statesman who served asLord Chancellor of the United Kingdom during the first two ministries ofBenjamin Disraeli.
Arthur Cairns was educated atWellington College inBerkshire. Between 1875 and 1876 he attendedEton College,[3] going on to study atTrinity College, Cambridge.[4]
Cairns became Private Secretary to the President of theBoard of Trade.[3] He succeeded to the titles of 2nd Baron Cairns of Garmoyle,County Antrim, and 2nd Earl Cairns, County Antrim, upon the death of his father on 2 April 1885.[2]
On 20 November 1884, Cairns was successfully sued for £10,000 forbreach of promise of marriage by Emily Mary Finney (an actress with the stage name ofMay Fortescue).[5]
He had seen her on stage inGilbert and Sullivan's operaIolanthe and the two struck up a relationship. He proposed marriage, and she accepted, leaving theSavoy Theatre at the end of August 1883. Although his family accepted Fortescue, according toThe New York Times, Cairn's friends could not accept his engagement to an actress, and he broke off the engagement in January 1884, leaving the country to travel in Asia. Fortescue, assisted byW. S. Gilbert's solicitors, sued him for breach of promise, receiving £10,000 in damages.[6]
He was also engaged to the New York heiressAdele Grant, but she broke off the engagement shortly before their wedding (and later marriedGeorge Capell, 7th Earl of Essex, in 1893).[7]
On 19 December 1887, he was married to Olivia Elizabeth BerensOBE atSt. Mary's Church,Bryanston Square,Marylebone, London. His wife was a daughter of Alexander Augustus Berens and Louisa Winifred Stewart.[3] Together, they were the parents of:[8]
Cairns died ofpneumonia on 14 January 1890, aged 28, at 18 Queen Street, Mayfair, London. He was buried atBournemouth inHampshire. He died intestate, and his estate was administered in April 1890 at £5,135.[3] Having only a daughter, his titles passed to his younger brother,Herbert John Cairns, 3rd Earl Cairns.[8]
After his death, his widow remarried to Maj. Roger Cyril Hans Sloane-Stanley ofPaultons in 1899 and had issue (theHigh Sheriff of Hampshire in 1913),[9] before her own death on 20 June 1951.[8]
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Earl Cairns 1885–1890 | Succeeded by |
| Baron Cairns 1885–1890 | ||