Alfred Erskine Gathorne-Hardy, JP , DL (27 February 1845 – 11 November 1918) was a British Conservative politician, landowner, and writer.
Born Alfred Erskine Hardy, he was the third son of Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook, and Jane Stewart Orr. He assumed by Royal licence the additional surname of Gathorne in 1878 like the rest of his family. The same year he was elected to the House of Commons for Canterbury, a seat he held until 1880, when the constituency was suspended. He returned to Parliament in 1886 when he was returned for East Grinstead, and continued to represent this constituency until 1895. He held the office of Commissioner of Railways and Canals in 1905. [1]
An observant naturalist he was also a keen shot and fisherman. In 1900, Longmans published his Autumns in Argyle with Rod and Gun, which is a collection of reminiscences of 30 years worth of sporting visits to his brother-in-law's estate at Poltalloch in Argyll. [2] This 100,000-acre (400 km2) estate included historic Dunadd as well as Castle Sween, Carnasserie Castle, and Duntrune - the family seat of the Clan Malcolm. The book has recently been reissued in a facsimile edition. In 1910, Longmans also published his memoir of his father Lord Cranbrook, titled Gathorne Hardy, First Earl of Cranbrook: A Memoir with extracts from his diary and correspondence. [3]
He had married in 1875 to Isabella Louisa Malcolm, the daughter of John Malcolm, 14th of Poltalloch and Isabella Wingfield, a granddaughter of Viscount Powerscourt, and a sister of John Malcolm, 1st Baron Malcolm of Poltalloch. They had three children, including the writers Geoffrey Malcolm Gathorne-Hardy and Capt. Alfred Cecil Gathorne-Hardy (1881–1915), who predeceased his father, being killed during the First World War. [4] He was also the author of a work on natural history published in 1916, titled The Touch of a Vanished Hand. [5]
Gathorne-Hardy died in November 1918, aged 73. [1]
Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook, was a prominent British Conservative politician. He held cabinet office in every Conservative government between 1858 and 1892. He served as Home Secretary from 1867 to 1868, Secretary of State for War from 1874 to 1878, Lord President of the Council from 1885 to 1886 and as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster until 1886. In 1878, he was appointed Secretary of State for India and thereafter was elevated to the peerage, entering the House of Lords as Viscount Cranbrook. He has been described as a moderate, middle-of-the-road Anglican, and a key ally of Disraeli.
Earl of Cranbrook is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1892 for Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, Viscount Cranbrook. The title is named after Cranbrook in the county of Kent. The Gathorne-Hardy family seat is Great Glemham House, near Saxmundham, Suffolk.
Viscount Mountgarret is a title in the Peerage of Ireland.
Baron Ampthill, of Ampthill in the County of Bedfordshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 11 March 1881 for the diplomat Lord Odo Russell. He was the third son of Major-General Lord George Russell, second son of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford.
Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy was a British author, known for biographies, including one of Alfred Kinsey, and books of social history on the British nanny and public school system. For his autobiography, Half an Arch, he received the J. R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography in 2005. He also wrote novels and children's literature. He subsequently worked in advertising and publishing.
John Stewart Gathorne-Hardy, 2nd Earl of Cranbrook, was a British hereditary peer, Conservative politician, and military officer.
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Gathorne-Hardy is the name of a British aristocratic family. The first part of the name is pronounced with a long a, i.e. "gay-thorn". The founder of the family was Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook. The "eccentric Gathorne-Hardys" as they are sometimes known, have produced many notable members of 19th and 20th century British society.
Rosehip Myfanwy Nell Gathorne-Hardy, known as Moffy Gathorne-Hardy, is a model signed onto Storm Models, the same agency that hired supermodel Kate Moss. She is primarily known for her crossed eyes and as a representative of challenging fashion industry norms, although she has said "I find it hard to take credit for 'challenging' anything; although I suppose that is inadvertently what I have done".
Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 5th Earl of Cranbrook,, styled Lord Medway until 1978, is a British zoologist, biologist, naturalist, and peer. Since 1956, he has been active in the fields of ornithology, mammalogy, and zooarchaeology, and has influenced research and education in Southeast Asia. His career focus was on swiftlets and other small Southeast Asian birds, as well as on mammals, including orangutans.
Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 3rd Earl of Cranbrook, styled as Lord Medway between 1906 and 1911, was a British hereditary peer.
John David Gathorne-Hardy, 4th Earl of Cranbrook was a British hereditary peer and archaeologist.
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