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George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer

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British government minister (1758–1834)

The Right Honourable The Earl Spencer KG PC DL FRS FSA
Lord Spencer byJohn Singleton Copley, 1800.

Home Secretary
In office 5 February 1806 – 25 March 1807
Monarch	George III
Prime Minister	The Lord Grenville
Preceded by	The Lord Hawkesbury
Succeeded by	The Lord Hawkesbury
First Lord of the Admiralty
In office December 1794 – January 1801
Monarch	George III
Prime Minister	Pitt the Younger
Preceded by	John Pitt
Succeeded by	Earl St Vincent

Personal details
Born	(1758-09-01)1 September 1758 London,England
Died	10 November 1834(1834-11-10) (aged 76) Althorp,Northamptonshire, England
Political party	Whig
Spouse	Lady Lavinia Bingham (m. 1781; died 1831)
Children	John Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer Sarah Lyttelton, Baroness Lyttelton Hon. Richard Spencer Robert Cavendish Spencer Hon. William Spencer Lady Harriet Spencer Lady Georgiana Quin Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer Father Ignatius Spencer
Parents	John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer Margaret Georgiana Poyntz
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge

George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer,KG, PC, DL, FRS, FSA (1 September 1758 – 10 November 1834), styledViscount Althorp from 1765 to 1783, was a BritishWhig politician. He served asHome Secretary from 1806 to 1807 in theMinistry of All the Talents. He was also the father ofthe Venerable Father Ignatius of St Paul, aRoman Catholic convert to the priesthood.

Background and education

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George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer, portrait in oil byJoshua Reynolds, 1774 - 1776

Lord Spencer was born atWimbledon Park House, London, the son ofJohn Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer, and his wifeMargaret Georgiana Poyntz, daughter ofStephen Poyntz, and was baptised there on 16 October 1758. His godparents wereKing George II, theEarl Cowper (his grandmother's second husband) and his great-aunt the DowagerViscountess Bateman.^[1]

His sisterLady Georgiana Spencer married theDuke of Devonshire and became a famed Whig hostess. He was educated atHarrow School from 1770 to 1775 and he won the school'sSilver Arrow (an archery prize) in 1771. He then attendedTrinity College, Cambridge, from 1776 to 1778 and graduated with aMaster of Arts.^[2] He acceded to the earldom on the death of his father in 1783.^[3]

Political career

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Lord Spencer was WhigMember of Parliament forNorthampton from 1780 to 1782 and Whig MP forSurrey from 1782 to 1783. He was sworn of thePrivy Council in 1794 and served underWilliam Pitt the Younger asLord Privy Seal in 1794 and asFirst Lord of the Admiralty from 1794 to 1801. In this capacity, he was central to the state's response to the 1797mutinies at Spithead and the Nore.^[4] He was laterHome Secretary from 1806 to 1807 underLord Grenville in theMinistry of All the Talents.

Other public positions

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Lord Spencer was also High Steward ofSt Albans from 1783 to 1807, Mayor of St Albans in 1790, President of theRoyal Institution from 1813 to 1825 and Commissioner of thePublic Records in 1831. He became a Fellow of theRoyal Society in 1780^{[citation needed]} and a Fellow of theSociety of Antiquaries of London in 1785.^{[citation needed]} He was appointed to theOrder of the Garter in 1799.^{[citation needed]} On 18 February 1793, he was appointed adeputy lieutenant of Northamptonshire.^[5]

Book collecting

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Spencer was known for an interest in literature, particularlyearly examples of printing. He was the instigator and first President of the exclusive, bibliophilicRoxburghe Club founded in 1812.

The St Christopherblockprint, dated 1423

Spencer's tens of thousands of volumes included the most nearly complete collection ofAldine editions ever brought together. It was acquired in 1892 byEnriqueta Rylands for theJohn Rylands Library^[6] and catalogued byAlice Margaret Cooke.^[7] The manuscripts of Spencer's collection are relatively few; one has pasted into it a St Christopher block print dated 1423.^[8]

From 1789 to 1818 Earl Spencer employed Tomaso d'Ocheda, an Italian, as his librarian; he had until 1789 been the librarian of Pierre-Antoine Bolongaro-Crevenna.^[9]

WhenNapoleon was in the process of thesecularization of religious houses in southern Germany, Spencer used the local British agent andBenedictine monk,Alexander Horn, to acquire many of their rare books and manuscripts.^[10]

Rev.Thomas Frognall Dibdin, a Church of England clergyman and bibliographer, wrote the first of many bibliographical works:Introduction to the Knowledge of Editions of the Classics (1802), which brought him to the notice of Earl Spencer, to whom he owed important aid in his bibliographical pursuits. The rich library at Althorp was thrown open to him; he spent much time there and in 1814–1815 publishedBibliotheca Spenceriana. As the library was not open to the public, the information was found useful, but as its author was unable even to read the characters in which the books he described were written, it was marred by errors, as were almost all his productions. In 1818 Dibdin was commissioned by Earl Spencer to buy books for him on the continent, an expedition described in his sumptuousBibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany (1821). He also wroteAedes Althorpianae, an account of Althorp giving many details of the library.

Family

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Lady Lavinia Bingham, 1781 (Joshua Reynolds)

Lord Spencer marriedLady Lavinia Bingham (1762–1831), daughter ofCharles Bingham, 1st Earl of Lucan, on 6 March 1781.^[3] They had nine children:

John Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer (1782–1845)
Lady Sarah Spencer (1787–1870), who marriedWilliam Lyttelton, 3rd Baron Lyttelton, and had issue
Hon. Richard Spencer (1789–1791) died in infancy.
Captain Hon.Sir Robert Cavendish Spencer (1791–1830), died unmarried at sea.
Hon. William Spencer (born and died 1792), died in infancy.
Lady Harriet Spencer (born and died 1793), died in infancy.

Lady Georgiana Charlotte Spencer (1794–1823), marriedLord George Quin, son ofThomas Taylour, 1st Marquess of Headfort, and had issue.
Vice-Admiral Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer (1798–1857)
Very Reverend Hon. George Spencer (later known asThe Venerable Father Ignatius Spencer) (1799–1864), aRoman Catholic convert who was declaredVenerable on 20 February 2021

Lady Spencer died in June 1831, aged 68. Lord Spencer survived her by three years and died in November 1834, aged 76, at Althorp, and was buried in the nearby village ofGreat Brington on 19 November of that year.

Spencer jacket

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TheSpencer, a type of short jacket from which the UK militarymess jacket is derived, is named after George Spencer,^[11] reportedly because he had a tail-coat adapted after its tails were burned by coals from a fire.^[12]

Coat of arms

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Coat of arms of George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer
	Coronet ACoronet of an Earl Crest Out of a Ducal Coronet Or a Griffin's Head Azure gorged with a Bar Gemelle Gules between two Wings expanded of the second Escutcheon Quarterly of eight, 1st and 8th quarterly Argent and Gules a fret Or overall on a bend Sable three escallops Argent (Spencer); 2nd Ermine on a chevron Gules five bezants a crescent for difference in centre chief Gules (Graunt); 3rd Or on two bars Gules three water bougets Argent (Willoughby); 4th Azure a fleur-de-ls Argent a mullet for difference in dexter chief also Argent (Digby); 5th Sable a lion rampant Argent on a canton Argent a cross Gules (Churchill); 6th Argent on a fess Gules three bezants (Jennings); 7th quarterly 1 and 4 Gules three clarions Or (Granville), 2 and 3 Gules four fuciles in fess Argent (Carteret). Supporters Dexter: A Griffin per fess Ermine and Erminois gorged with a Collar Sable the edges flory-counterflory and chained of the last and on the Collar three Escallops Argent; Sinister: A Wyvern Erect on his tail Ermine similarly collared and chained Motto Dieu Defend Le Droit (God defend the right)

Ancestry

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Ancestors of George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer

8.Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland

4.The Hon. John Spencer

9.Lady Anne Churchill

2.John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer

10.John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville

5. Lady Georgina Carolina Carteret

11. Frances Worsley

1.George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer

12. William Poyntz

6. Stephen Poyntz

13. Jane Monteage

3.Margaret Georgiana Poyntz

14. Hon. Lewis Mordaunt

7. Anna Maria Mordaunt

15. Mary Collyer

References

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^"Wimbledon Pages 519-540 The Environs of London: Volume 1, County of Surrey. Originally published by T Cadell and W Davies, London, 1792".British History Online. Retrieved6 July 2020.
^"Spencer, George John, Viscount Althorp (SPNR776GJ)".A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
^^a ^bBurke, John (1833).A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. London: H. Colburn and R. Bentley. p. 466.
^Easton, Callum (2025).The 1797 Naval Mutinies and Popular Protest in Britain: Negotiation through Collective Action. Palgrave MacMillan. pp. 15, 111, 202, 244, 258.ISBN 978-3-031-98839-4.
^"No. 13708".The London Gazette. 27 September 1794. p. 987.
^Anthony Lister (1989), "The Althorp Library... its Formation and Growth". In:Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester, vol. 71, no. 2, pp. 67–86.
^Fernanda Helen Perrone, 'Cooke, Alice Margaret (1867–1940)',Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004accessed 26 December 2015.
^E. G. Duff, ed.Catalogue of the Printed Books and Manuscripts in the John Rylands Library, Manchester. 3 vols, Manchester: J. E. Cornish, 1899.
^Lister (1989), p. 69.
^Mark Dilworth, 'Horn, Alexander (1762–1820)’,Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.
^"Spencer, n.2, 2".Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved2 April 2015.OED states that the jacket is named after the earl but does not suggest why.
^"George John, Second Earl Spencer". Althorp. Archived fromthe original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved2 April 2015.

External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related toGeorge Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer.

Hansard 1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer
Lister, Anthony (1989)"The Althorp Library of Second Earl Spencer, now in the John Rylands University Library of Manchester: its formation and growth".Archived 6 May 2021 at theWayback Machine (published in:Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester; vol. 71, no. 2 (summer 1989), pp. 67–86 )

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Hon. Wilbraham Tollemache Sir George Robinson, Bt	Member of Parliament for Northampton 1780–1783 With:George Rodney	Succeeded by George Rodney The Lord Lucan
Preceded by Sir Joseph Mawbey, Bt Hon. Augustus Keppel	Member of Parliament for Surrey 1783 With:Sir Joseph Mawbey, Bt	Succeeded by Sir Joseph Mawbey, Bt Sir Robert Clayton, Bt
Political offices
Preceded by The Marquess of Stafford	Lord Privy Seal 1794	Succeeded by The Earl of Chatham
Preceded by The Earl of Chatham	First Lord of the Admiralty 1794–1801	Succeeded by The Earl of St Vincent
Preceded by The Lord Hawkesbury	Home Secretary 1806–1807	Succeeded by The Lord Hawkesbury
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by John Spencer	Earl Spencer 1783–1834	Succeeded by John Charles Spencer

v t e Home secretaries of the United Kingdom
Shelburne Townshend North Temple Sydney Grenville Dundas Portland Pelham Yorke Hawkesbury Spencer Liverpool Ryder Sidmouth Peel Sturges Bourne Lansdowne Peel Melbourne Duncannon Wellington Goulburn Russell Normanby Graham Grey Walpole Palmerston Grey Walpole Sotheron-Estcourt Lewis Grey Walpole Hardy Bruce Lowe Cross Harcourt Cross Childers Matthews Asquith Ridley Ritchie Akers-Douglas Gladstone Churchill McKenna Simon Samuel Cave Shortt Bridgeman Henderson Joynson-Hicks Clynes Samuel Gilmour Simon Hoare Anderson Morrison Somervell Chuter Ede Maxwell-Fyfe Lloyd George Butler Brooke Soskice Jenkins Callaghan Maudling Carr Jenkins Rees Whitelaw Brittan Hurd Waddington Baker K. Clarke Howard Straw Blunkett C. Clarke Reid Smith Johnson May Rudd Javid Patel Braverman Shapps Braverman Cleverly Cooper Mahmood

v t e First Lords of the Admiralty
of England	The Earl of Portland The Earl of Lindsey William Juxon, Bishop of Lincoln The Earl of Northumberland The Lord Cottington Sir Henry Capell The Earl of Nottingham The Earl of Torrington The Earl of Pembroke The Lord Cornwallis The Viscount Falkland The Earl of Orford The Earl of Bridgewater The Earl of Pembroke
of Great Britain	The Earl of Orford Sir John Leake The Earl of Strafford The Earl of Orford The Earl of Berkeley The Viscount Torrington Sir Charles Wager The Earl of Winchilsea The Duke of Bedford The Earl of Sandwich The Lord Anson The Earl Temple The Earl of Winchilsea The Lord Anson The Earl of Halifax George Grenville The Earl of Sandwich The Earl of Egmont Sir Charles Saunders Sir Edward Hawke The Earl of Sandwich The Viscount Keppel The Viscount Howe The Viscount Keppel The Viscount Howe The Earl of Chatham The Earl Spencer
of the United Kingdom	The Earl of St Vincent The Viscount Melville The Lord Barham Viscount Howick Thomas Grenville The Lord Mulgrave Charles Philip Yorke The Viscount Melville The Duke of Clarence The Viscount Melville Sir James Graham, Bt The Lord Auckland The Earl de Grey The Lord Auckland The Earl of Minto The Earl of Haddington The Earl of Ellenborough The Earl of Auckland Sir Francis Baring, Bt The Duke of Northumberland Sir James Graham, Bt Sir Charles Wood, Bt Sir John Pakington, Bt The Duke of Somerset Sir John Pakington, Bt Henry Lowry-Corry Hugh Childers George Goschen George Ward Hunt William Henry Smith The Earl of Northbrook Lord George Hamilton The Marquess of Ripon Lord George Hamilton The Earl Spencer George Goschen The Earl of Selborne The Earl Cawdor The Lord Tweedmouth Reginald McKenna Winston Churchill Arthur Balfour Sir Edward Carson Sir Eric Geddes Walter Long The Viscount Lee of Fareham Wood Anderson Leo Amery The Viscount Chelmsford The Viscount Bridgeman A. V. Alexander Sir Austen Chamberlain The Viscount Monsell Sir Samuel Hoare, Bt Duff Cooper The Earl Stanhope Winston Churchill A. V. Alexander Brendan Bracken A. V. Alexander The Viscount Hall Lord Pakenham Viscount Cilcennin The Viscount Hailsham The Earl of Selkirk The Lord Carrington The Earl Jellicoe

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