The Third Duke of Buckingham and Chandos

Richard Plantagenet Campbell Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville (1823–1889). Only son of 2nd Duke. See Family Tree.

1875 portrait on appointment as Govenor of Madras
(The Graphic 22 May 1875)

Studios and serious as a boy, he was brought up in a failed marriage amid continual financial crisis. Often in conflict with his father, he adopted his mother’s stricter ways and became the most successful of the three Dukes in managing the estates.

He showed an interest in science and engineering from an early age (HEH STG Correspondence Box 76 (04)) and became chairman of London and North-western Railway . He later became Governor of Madras.

In India, he organised relief on a large scale and, by the end of July 1876, 839,000 people were in receipt of relief in the Madras districts. He also organised employment relief and by April 1876, 716,000 people in daily employment. At the instigation of the Duke, the Lord Mayor of London organised a relief fund on behalf of the sufferers; £475,000 was collected and forwarded to Madras.

He is often known as the ‘saving Duke’ and he made strenuous efforts to pay off his father’s debts. He married twice and had three daughters.

He died in 1889 without a male heir and:

the Dukedom of Buckingham and Chandos became extinct
his nephew, William Stephen Gore Langton succeeded to the Earldom of Temple of Stowe
his eldest daughter, Lady Mary Morgan, inherited the Scottish barony of Kinloss
the Viscounty of Cobham passed to Lord Lyttelton.

Age	Year	Date	Event
0	1823	10 September	Birth
8	1835		Eton until 1841
15	1839	17 January	Succeeds to title Marquis of Chandos on death of his grandfather
18	1841	20 October	Matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford
20	1843		Lieutenant in Royal Bucks regiment of yeomanry
22	1845		Captain in Royal Bucks regiment of yeomanry
22	1846	11 February	Conservative MP for Buckingham
28	1851	2 October	Marriage to Caroline, daughter of Robert Harvey of Langley Park, Buckinghamshire
28	1852	28 February	Junior lord of treasury in Lord Derby’s administration until 28 December
28	1852	7 June	Created D.C.L of Oxford
28	1852	March	Keeper of the Privy Seal to Prince of Wales until 1859
29	1852	October	Appointed special deputy warden of the stanneries by Prince of Wales
30	1853	October	Elected chairman of London and North-western Railway
33	1857	21 March	Resigns as MP for Buckingham
35	1859	1 July	Contested University of Oxford with William Gladstone; defeated
37	1861	29 July	Succeeded to Dukedom on death of 2nd Duke
38	1861		Resigned as chairman of London and North-western Railway
39	1862		Lieutenant commandant in Royal Bucks regiment of yeomanry
39	1862		Chairman of executive committee of Great Exhibition
42	1865	10 July	Appointed Honorary Colonel of the 1st Middlesex artillery volunteers
43	1866	6 July	Gazetted Privy Councillor; appointed Lord President of the Council by Lord Derby until 8 March 1867
43	1867	8 March	Succeeded Earl of Carnarvon as Secretary of State for the Colonies until 8 December 1868; recalled Sir George Grey from New Zealand in 1868.
44	1868	3 April	Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire
44	1868	21 July	Established right to title of Baron Kinloss in the House of Lords
50	1874	28 February	Death of Caroline, first wife
50	1874	8 June	Appointed Chairman of commission to investigate railway accidents.
52	1875	25 November	Commences as Governor of Madras, remaining in India until 1880
52	1876	2 June	Named a Knight Grand Commander of the Star of India
58	1881		Honorary Colonel in Royal Bucks regiment of yeomanry
58	1881		Elected chairman of Buckingham Quarter Sessions
61	1885	17 February	Marriage to Alice Anne, eldest daughter of Sir Graham Graham Montgomery
62	1886	May	Chairman of committees in House of Lords
66	1889	26 March	Death of diabetes (DNB) or prostatis and cystitis (the Times cited in Beckett) at Chandos House
66	1889	2 April	Burial at Wotton
66	1889	June	Will proved at £79,942 plus landed property