{{Short description|British statesman (1782–1845)}} {{Redirect|Lord Althorp|other people with that title|Earl Spencer (peerage)}} {{Use British English|date=May 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Right Honourable | name = The Earl Spencer | honorific_suffix = PC DL FRS | image = John Charles Spencer, Viscount Althorp, 3rd Earl Spencer (1782-1845) by Henry Pierce Bone.jpg | caption = Portrait by Henry Pierce Bone, 1835 | order1 = Chancellor of the Exchequer | term_start1 = 22 November 1830 | term_end1 = 14 November 1834 | prime_minister1 = The Earl Grey<br />The Viscount Melbourne | predecessor1 = Henry Goulburn | successor1 = Sir Robert Peel | order2 = Leader of the House of Commons | term_start2 = 22 November 1830 | term_end2 = 10 November 1834 | prime_minister2 = The Earl Grey<br />The Viscount Melbourne | predecessor2 = Sir Robert Peel | successor2 = Lord John Russell | birth_date = {{birth date|1782|5|30|df=yes}} | birth_place = St James's, Middlesex, England | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1845|10|01|1782|05|30}} | death_place = Wiseton, Nottinghamshire, England | party = Whig | alma_mater = Trinity College, Cambridge | spouse = {{marriage|Esther Acklom|1814|1818|end=died}} | parents = George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer<br />Lady Lavinia Bingham }}
'''John Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|PC|DL|FRS}} (30 May 1782 – 1 October 1845), styled '''Viscount Althorp''' from 1783 to 1834, was a British statesman. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer under Lord Grey and Lord Melbourne from 1830 to 1834. Due to his reputation for integrity, he was nicknamed "Honest Jack".
==Family and early years== [[File:Johnspencer1708.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|left|Portrait of Spencer's father and grandfather (with gun), by George Knapton, {{c.}} 1744|alt=]]His father George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer had served in the ministries of Pitt the Younger, Charles James Fox and Lord Grenville, and was First Lord of the Admiralty (1794–1801). George Spencer was married to the eldest daughter of Lord Lucan. Their eldest son, John Charles, was born at Spencer House, London, on 30 May 1782. In 1800, after Harrow, he took up his residence at Trinity College, Cambridge,<ref>{{acad|id=SPNR800JC|name=Spencer, John Charles, Viscount Althorp}}</ref> and for some time applied himself energetically to mathematical studies; but he spent most of his time in hunting and racing.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=637}} He was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Northamptonshire on 5 June 1803.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=15666 |page=63 |date=14 January 1804}}</ref>
In 1804, he entered parliament as a member for Okehampton in Devon. He vacated his seat in 1806, to contest the University of Cambridge against Lord Henry Petty and Lord Palmerston (when he was hopelessly beaten), but he was elected that same year for St Albans, and appointed a lord of the treasury. At the general election in November 1806, he was elected for Northamptonshire, and he continued to sit for the county until he succeeded to the peerage. For the next few years after this speech, Lord Althorp occasionally spoke in debates and was always on the side of Liberalism, but from 1813 to 1818 he was only rarely in the House of Commons. His absence was partly due to a feeling that it was hopeless to struggle against the will of the Tory ministry, but more particularly because of the death of his wife.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=637}}
==Leader of the Commons== In 1819, on his return to political life, he pressed for establishing a more efficient bankruptcy court, and of expediting the recovery of small debts; and he saw both these reforms accomplished before 1825. During the greater part of the reign of George IV, the Whigs lost their influence in the state from their want of cohesion, but this defect was soon remedied in 1830 when Lord Althorp was chosen their leader in the lower house, and his capacity for the position was proved by experience. In Lord Grey's government Althorp was both Leader of the House of Commons and Chancellor of the Exchequer.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=637}} He was instrumental in the success of the government measures. Along with Lord John Russell, he led the fight to pass the Reform Bill of 1832, making more than twenty speeches. It was also under Spencer's leadership and consistent lobbying that the House of Commons abolished slavery throughout the British Empire in 1833.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Countess of Lucan (Lady Margaret Bingham) (British, 1740-1814), after Sir Joshua Reynolds, PRA (British, 1723-1792) |url=https://www.bonhams.com/auction/20767/lot/116/the-countess-of-lucan-lady-margaret-bingham-british-1740-1814-after-sir-joshua-reynolds-pra-british-1723-1792-the-artists-grandson-john-charles-spencer-1782-1845-viscount-althorp-and-3rd-earl-spencer-standing-in-a-landscape-and-wearing-double-breasted-white-suit-with-collar-sky-blue-sash-tied-at-his-hip-and-a-black-hat/ |access-date=13 May 2023 |website=Bonhams |date=2023 |quote=It was also under Spencer's leadership that the House of Commons abolished slavery throughout the British Empire in 1833.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1820-1832 |chapter=SPENCER, see John Charles, John Charles, Visct. Althorp (1782-1845), of Wiseton Hall, nr. East Retford, Notts |date=2009 |editor=D.R. Fisher |publisher=Cambridge University Press |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/spencer-john-1782-1845 |access-date=13 May 2023 |via=The History of Parliament Online |quote= He presented constituency petitions for improvement of the conditions of West Indian slaves, 2 Mar., and for the abolition of slavery, 22 Mar.;...}}</ref>
==The Lords== After the dissolution of 1833, the Whig government had been slowly dying, and was further weakened by Althorp's promotion to the House of Lords following the death of his father in 1834. The new Lord Spencer abandoned the cares of office and returned to country life with unalloyed delight. Henceforth agriculture, not politics, was his principal interest. He was a notable cattle breeder and the first president of the Royal Agricultural Society which was founded in 1838, the year he paid homage to Queen Victoria at her Coronation.<ref>{{cite book |author=David Torrance |date=5 May 2023 |chapter=Attending the coronation §The Peerage |title=The coronation: History and ceremonial |page=43 |chapter-url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9412/CBP-9412.pdf#page=43 |publisher=House of Commons Library |access-date=14 May 2023}}</ref> Though often urged by his political friends to come to their assistance, he rarely quit the peaceful pleasures which he loved. He died without issue at Wiseton on 1 October 1845, and was succeeded by his brother Frederick (died 1857).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=638}}
==Reputation and legacy== The Whigs required, to carry the Reform Bill, a leader above party spirit. "Honest Jack Althorp" has been called "the most decent man who ever held high Government office". Although he was not a particularly good public speaker, his integrity was an invaluable asset to the Government. Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge said that one of John Wilson Croker's speeches was demolished by the simple statement of Lord Althorp that he "had collected some figures which entirely refuted it, but had lost them."{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=638}} To Croker's credit, he replied that he would never doubt Althorp's word.
Spencer Street in Melbourne, is named in his honour.
==Marriage== On 13 April 1814, Spencer married Esther Acklom (September 1788 – 11 June 1818) at Upper Brook Street, Mayfair, London. Cokayne quotes from the Farington Diaries, "in marrying He complied with the wishes of Lord and Lady Spencer, it was not of His own seeking" and from the Letter Bag of Lady Elizabeth Spencer-Stanhope, "since Jack Althorp would not propose to her, she proposed to him; and such an unusual proceeding was fraught with happy consequences ... his devotion after marriage amply compensated for his lack of ardour before." Esther died on 11 June 1818 at the age of 29 at Halkin Street, Belgravia, London, England, in childbirth and she was buried on 18 June 1818 in Brington, Northamptonshire, England. John was said to be deeply upset by his wife's death and was devoted to her memory for the rest of his life: he resolved never to remarry, and it is said that he gave up hunting, his favourite pastime, to mark the depth of his loss.
==Coat of arms== {{Infobox COA wide |image = 90px|center100px|center |creation date= 1 November 1765 |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 |coronet = A Coronet of an Earl |escutcheon = Quarterly Argent and Gules in the 2nd and 3rd quarters a Fret Or over all on a Bend Sable three Escallops of the first |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== {{ahnentafel |collapsed=yes |align=center |boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc; |boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9; |boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc; |boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc; |1= 1. '''John Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer''' |2= 2. George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer<ref name="gec-1-7-203">Cokayne (1896), p. 203.</ref> |3= 3. Lady Lavinia Bingham<ref name="gec-1-7-203"/> |4= 4. John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer<ref name="gec-1-7-203"/> |5= 5. Margaret Georgiana Poyntz<ref name="gec-1-7-203"/> |6= 6. Rt Hon. Charles Bingham, first Earl of Lucan<ref name="gec-1-7-203"/> |7= 7. Margaret Smith<ref name="gec-1-7-203"/> |8= 8. Hon. John Spencer<ref>Cokayne (1896), p. 202; who was a younger brother of Charles Spencer, fifth Earl of Sunderland, who later became third Duke of Marlborough.</ref> |9= 9. Lady Georgiana Caroline Carteret<ref name="gec-1-7-202">Cokayne (1896), p. 202.</ref> |10= 10. Rt Hon. Stephen Poyntz<ref name="gec-1-7-203"/> |11= 11. Maria Mordaunt<ref>Cokayne (1896), p. 203; daughter and coheir of her father.</ref> |12= 12. Sir John Bingham, fifth Baronet<ref>Cokayne (1893), p. 170</ref> |13= 13. Anne Vesey<ref>Cokayne (1893), p. 170; coheir of her father.</ref> |14= 14. James Smith<ref>Cokayne (1896), p. 203; of Canons Leigh, Devon, and of St. Andries/Audries, Somerset; very often spelt "James Smyth".</ref> |15= 15. Grace Dyke<ref>Cokayne (1893), p. 170; Bartlett (1865), p. 87, transcribes a monument thus: "Margaret Countess of Lucan, widow of Charles Earl of Lucan, and daughter and co-heiress of James Smyth, of St. Audries, in the county of Somerset, Esqr., and of Grace Dyke, of Pixton, in the county of Devon, his wife".</ref> }}
==References== {{reflist|2}}
===Bibliography=== *T.C. Banks (1837). ''The Dormant and Extinct Baronage of England'', volume 4. *W.A. Bartlett (1865). ''The History and Antiquities of the Parish of Wimbledon, Surrey''. *E. Brydges (1812). ''Collin's Peerage of England'', volume 3. *A.P. Burke (1931). ''A Heraldic and Genealogical History of the Peerage''. *J. Burke (1836). ''A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland'', volume 3. *C.E.H. Chadwyck-Healey (1901). ''The History of the Part of West Somerset Comprising the Parishes of Luccombe, Selworthy, Stoke Pero, Porlock, Culbone and Ore''. *J. Burke and J.B. Burke (1841). ''A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England, Ireland, and Scotland''. *G.E. Cokayne (1892). ''Complete Peerage'', 1st edition, volume 4. *G.E. Cokayne (1893). ''Complete Peerage'', 1st edition, volume 5. *G.E. Cokayne (1896). ''Complete Peerage'', 1st edition, volume 7. *G.E. Cokayne (1902). ''Complete Baronetage'', volume 2. *F.W. Weaver and C.H. Mayo (eds.) (1895). ''Notes and Queries for Somerset and Dorset'', volume 4. *G.E. Cokayne (1892). "Complete Peerage", volume 13. page 156. *{{EB1911|wstitle=Spencer, John Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl|volume=25|pages=637–638}} *{{cite DNB|wstitle=Spencer, John Charles|volume=53}} *{{cite ODNB|author=Ellis Archer Wasson|title=Spencer, John Charles, Viscount Althorp and third Earl Spencer (1782–1845)|date= 2004|id=26133}}
==Further reading== *Myers, Ernest (1890) ''Lord Althorp''. 240 p. London: R. Bentley *Wasson, Ellis Archer (1987) ''Whig Renaissance: Lord Althorp and the Whig Party 1782–1845''. 439 p.; London: Garland.
==External links== *{{Hansard-contribs |viscount-althorp-1 |John Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer }}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{s-bef |before=Francis Dickins}} {{s-ttl |title=Member of Parliament for Northamptonshire |years=1806–1832 }} {{s-non|reason=constituency abolished}} {{s-new|constituency}} {{s-ttl |title=Member of Parliament for South Northamptonshire |years=1832–1834 }} {{s-aft |after=Sir Charles Knightley }} {{s-off}} {{succession box |before=Henry Goulburn |title=Chancellor of the Exchequer |years=1830–1834 |after=Sir Robert Peel, Bt}} {{succession box |before=Sir Robert Peel |title=Leader of the House of Commons |years=1830–1834 |after=Lord John Russell}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-new|first|reason=None recognised before}} {{s-ttl|title=Whig Leader in the Commons|years=1830–1834}} {{s-aft|after=Lord John Russell}} {{s-reg|gb}} {{succession box |title=Earl Spencer |before=George John Spencer |after=Frederick Spencer |years=1834–1845}} {{s-end}}
{{Leaders of the Opposition UK}} {{British Chancellors of the Exchequer}} {{Leader of the House of Commons}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Althorp, John Charles Spencer, Viscount}} Category:1782 births Category:1845 deaths John Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer 03 Category:Chancellors of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom Category:People educated at Harrow School Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Okehampton Category:UK MPs 1806–1807 Category:UK MPs 1807–1812 Category:UK MPs 1820–1826 Category:UK MPs 1826–1830 Category:UK MPs 1830–1831 Category:UK MPs 1831–1832 Category:UK MPs 1832–1835 Spencer, E3 Category:Leaders of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Category:British fellows of the Royal Society Category:Deputy lieutenants of Northamptonshire Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Category:People from Wiseton Category:Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies Category:Committee members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge