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The Right Honourable
The Earl of Cranbrook
VD JP DL
The Right Honourable The Earl of Cranbrook VD JP DL
Member of Parliament for Rye
	In office; 1868–1880
Preceded by	Lauchlan Bellingham Mackinnon
Succeeded by	Frederick Inderwick
Member of the House of Lords; Lord Temporal
	In office; 30 October 1906 – 13 July 1911
Preceded by	The 1st Earl of Cranbrook
Succeeded by	The 3rd Earl of Cranbrook
Personal details
Born	John Stewart Hardy; 22 March 1839; London, England
Died	13 July 1911
Spouse	Cicely Ridgway (m. 1867)
Children	7, including Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 3rd Earl of Cranbrook
Parent(s)	Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook; Jane Stewart Orr

John Stewart Gathorne-Hardy, 2nd Earl of Cranbrook, VD, JP, DL (22 March 1839 – 13 July 1911) was a British hereditary peer, Conservative politician, and military officer.

Early life

Born John Stewart Hardy, Lord Cranbrook was the eldest son of the Conservative politician Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook, and Jane Stewart Orr. He assumed the additional surname of Gathorne by Royal licence in 1878 and when his father was elevated to the peerage as Earl of Cranbrook in 1892, he gained the courtesy title of Lord Medway.^[1]

Cranbrook was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford.^[2]

Career

Cranbrook was elected to the House of Commons for Rye in 1868, a seat he held until 1880, and later represented Mid Kent from 1884 to 1885 and Medway from 1885 to 1892. He gained the rank of Lieutenant in the Rifle Brigade. He was made an honorary Colonel in the 5th Weald of Kent Battalion, The Buffs. He was Deputy lieutenant and Justice of the peace, as well as County Alderman, for Kent.^[2]

In 1906, he succeeded his father as second Earl of Cranbrook and took his seat in the House of Lords.

Marriage and children

In 1867 at Plaxtol, Lord Cranbrook married Cicely Marguerite Wilhelmina Ridgway, daughter of Joseph Ridgway and Selina Harriet Doyle. They had seven children:^[3]^[4]^[5]

Lady Selina Marguerite Gathorne-Hardy (1870 – 29 May 1934)
Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 3rd Earl of Cranbrook (18 December 1870 – 23 December 1915)
Lady Jane Ethel Gathorne-Hardy (1872 – 26 January 1943)
Gen. Hon. Sir John Francis Gathorne-Hardy (14 January 1874 – 21 August 1949)
Cdr. Hon. Ralph Cecil North Gathorne-Hardy (19 March 1876 – 30 December 1911)
Lt.-Col. Hon. Nigel Charles Gathorne-Hardy (31 March 1880 – 17 December 1958)
Lady Dorothy Milner Gathorne-Hardy (4 January 1889 – 21 February 1977), married Rupert D'Oyly Carte, proprietor of the Savoy Hotel

Death

Lord Cranbrook died in July 1911 at the age of 72 and was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son, Gathorne. Lady Cranbrook died in 1931.^[2]

Notes

^ "Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st earl of Cranbrook | Liberal Reforms, Education, India | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 23 February 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c Burke's Peerage (2003). p. 941.
^ Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003
^ Dod's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland, Including All the Titled Classes. 1921. p. 214.
^ Cokayne, G.E. (1998). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom: Addenda and Corrigenda. St. Catherine Press, Limited. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-7509-0154-3.

Bibliography

Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (106th edition) (New York: St Martin's Press 1990)
Williamson, D (ed.) Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (107th edition) (London 2002)

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Lauchlan Bellingham Mackinnon	Member of Parliament for Rye 1868–1880	Succeeded by Frederick Andrew Inderwick
Preceded by William Hart Dyke Sir Edmund Filmer	Member of Parliament for Mid Kent 1884–1885 With: William Hart Dyke	Constituency abolished
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Medway 1885–1892	Succeeded by Charles Edward Warde
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy	Earl of Cranbrook 1906–1911	Succeeded by Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy