Gathorne-Hardy family

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, a prominent Tory politician and favourite of Queen Victoria, who adopted the hyphenated surname Gathorne-Hardy. His daughter, Lady Margaret Evelyn Gathorne-Hardy was Vicereine of India in 1929 by marriage to Lord Goschen.[1] The "eccentric Gathorne-Hardys" as they are sometimes known, have produced many notable members of 19th and 20th century British society.

Arms of the Gathorne Hardy

History

Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook (1814–1906) was the youngest son of Sir John Hardy of Horsforth, Yorkshire. His elder brothers included Sir John Hardy, 1st Baronet (see Hardy baronets of Dunstall) and Charles Hardy, owner of Chilham Castle. Hardy's immediate ancestors had been Yorkshire esquires and stewards to the Spencer-Stanhope family in the 18th century.[2] John Hardy was educated in Switzerland, where his contemporaries included Lord Lyndhurst and Daniel O'Connell, before returning to England and being called to the bar. He married the heiress Lady Isobel Gathorne, daughter of Richard Gathorne of Kirkby Lonsdale, Westmorland, with whom he had three sons, including Gathorne Hardy.[3]

Vanity Fair caricature of Gathorne Hardy, 1872

Gathorne Hardy, an eminent Conservative politician, who held cabinet office in every government between 1858 and 1892, was a strong advocate for intervention in Russo-Turkish war (1877–1878) and as Secretary of State for India, the Second Anglo-Afghan war (1878–1880). He was a key ally of Prime minister Benjamin Disraeli and gained the full confidence and 'warm personal regard' of Queen Victoria.[4][5]

In 1892, Gathorne-Hardy was made Earl of Cranbrook, along with the subsidiary titles: Viscount Cranbrook (1878) and Baron Medway, the latter of which the heir to the earldom has the privilege of being styled as. The Earls of Cranbrook were previously seated at Hemsted Park, Benenden, but later moved to Great Glemham House, near Saxmundham, Suffolk.[6][7]

Lord Goschen, Governor of Madras (left) and Lady Margaret Evelyn Gathorne-Hardy (right) with Maharajah Ram Chandra Dev IV (centre), c.1925, India

In 1838 Gathorne-Hardy married Jane Stewart Orr with whom he had 5 children. His eldest daughter, Lady Margaret Evelyn Gathorne-Hardy, DGStJ, CI (d. 11 July 1943) married George Joachim Goschen, 2nd Viscount Goschen, Governor of Madras and ultimately Viceroy of India between 1929 and 1931.[1] While in India, Lady Goschen founded hospitals and schools, including the Viscountess Goschen Government Girls (Muslim) school.[8] She was awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind Gold Medal and had three children with her husband. Her only son however, Hon. George Joachim Goschen, who was expected to succeed as Viscount Goschen, died in 1916 at Kut al-Amara from wounds received in action.[9]

Lady Dorothy Milner Gathorne-Hardy (later D'Oyly Carte)

Gathorne-Hardy was succeeded by his eldest son John Stewart Gathorne-Hardy, 2nd Earl of Cranbrook (1839–1911), who married Cicely Ridgway and was the father of Lady Dorothy Milner Gathorne-Hardy, wife of Rupert D'Oyly Carte (the pair divorced in 1941 after she was accused of adultery), and then St Yves de Verteuil in Tobago.[10] He was also the father of the Hon. John Francis Gathorne-Hardy, a noted First World War general, who married Lady Isobel Gathorne-Hardy, a society hostess, ice-skating pioneer, royal courtier and the daughter of the 16th Earl of Derby, Governor General of Canada.[11] He was succeeded by his eldest son Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 3rd Earl of Cranbrook (1870–1916)


Hon. Edward Gathorne-Hardy was a noted bohemian traveller, author, botanist, antiquarian and socialite. He was the second son of the 3rd Earl of Cranbrook and Dorothy Boyle, daughter of the 7th Earl of Glasgow. His grandfather was the 2nd Earl of Cranbrook, son of Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook. Edward, famously eccentric, was rumoured to have been in a relationship with Anthony Eden. He published several works on botany, history and classical civilisation. Edward lived in Athens, Cairo and Beirut as "Mediterranean hedonism and botanic and archaeological curiosity drew him to the Levant". He died at his home in Athens in 1978.[12] Edward's younger brother, Hon. Robert Gathorne-Hardy was also an avid botanist, often working with his brother and publishing several works. He is best known for his close friendship with Ottoline Morrell and for founding the 'Uffizi society' which included Anthony Eden, Lord David Cecil and Bertrand Russell.[13]

The Hon. Robert Gathorne-Hardy, the Hon. Edward Gathorne-Hardy and friends by Lady Ottoline Morrell

The present Earl, Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 5th Earl of Cranbrook (born 1933) is a noted zoologist, naturalist and farmer, formerly active in Malaysia. He succeeded his father, the 4th Earl, in 1978 and since then has sat in the House of Lords as a Conservative hereditary peer. His wife, Caroline, Countess of Cranbrook, is a noted food campaigner who King Charles praised as the "doughtiest fighter for good sense in agriculture".[14]

The heir of the family is John Jason Gathorne-Hardy, Lord Medway (known as Jason; born 1968).[15]

Notable people

See also
  • Earl of Cranbrook, a title in the British peerage created for the Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy
  • All pages with titles containing Gathorne-Hardy family

References
  1. "Lady Goschen Hospital". Deccan Herald. 2012-01-27. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  2. Archives, The National. "Gathorne-Hardy family". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
  3. Hardy, Kimber (2016). The Hardy Family of Artists: Frederick Daniel, George, Heywood, James and their descendants. Woodbridge, Suffolk: ACC Art Books Ltd. p. 198. ISBN 978-185149-826-0.
  4. "Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st earl of Cranbrook | British politician | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
  5. "Rudolf Swoboda (1859-1914) - Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook (1814-1906)". www.rct.uk. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  6. Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 941. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
  7. "Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy Cranbrook - Encyclopedia". theodora.com. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  8. Nainar, Nahla (2019-08-02). "Viscountess Goschen Government Girls (Muslim) HSS in Tiruchi survives". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  9. "Lieutenant The Hon George Joachim Goschen | Christ Church, Oxford University". www.chch.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  10. Museum, Victoria and Albert. "Photograph of Dorothy D'Oyly Carte | V&A Explore The Collections". Victoria and Albert Museum: Explore the Collections. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  11. Caldwell, Dave (2016-03-12). "A Different Stanley Gets Her Cup". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  12. Bookride. "Eddie Gathorne-Hardy". Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  13. "Hampshire Field Club & Archaeological Society". www.hantsfieldclub.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  14. Surman, William (2014-07-14). "Rural life issues, recipes and working dogs news from the Farmers Guardian". web.archive.org. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
  15. "Why I Love Suffolk: Jason Gathorne-Hardy". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
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