Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry

Who was Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry?

Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry KG, GCB, GCH, PC, was a British soldier, politician and nobleman.

Charles Stewart was educated at Eton and was commissioned into the British army in 1794. He saw active service in Flanders and Ireland before being elected as a member to the Irish House of Commons. In 1803 he was aide-de-camp to King George III and four years later became Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. He fought in the Peninsula War under both Sir John More and Sir Arthur Wellesley.

In 1810 Steward was appointed Envoy Extraordinary to the Prussian Court in Berlin and remained in that position until end of the war in 1814. In 1815 he was appointed British Ambassador to Vienna, and was at the Congress of Vienna with his half brother Lord Castlereagh.

Charles Stewart succeeded his half-brother as 3rd Marquess of Londonderry in 1822. The following year he was created Earl Vane and Viscount Seaham. From 1823 he was Governor of County Londonderry and was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Durham in 1842. He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1853, and died a year later at Londonderry House.