Henry Lascelles, 2nd Earl of Harewood

The Earl of Harewood

Henry Lascelles, 2nd Earl of Harewood DL (25 December 1767 – 24 November 1841), known as Viscount Lascelles from 1814 to 1820, was a British peer, Tory politician, planter and art collector.

Early life and politics

Harewood was the second son of Edward Lascelles, 1st Earl of Harewood, and Anne Chaloner. He was elected to the House of Commons for Yorkshire in 1796, a seat he held until 1806, when he chose not to force a very expensive contested election. He tried and failed to regain it in the 1807 Yorkshire election. Then held it again from 1812 to 1818, and also represented Westbury from 1807 to 1812 and Northallerton from 1818 to 1820. The latter year he succeeded his father in the earldom and entered the House of Lords. Between 1819 and 1841 he also served as Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire.

According to the Legacies of British Slave-Ownership at University College London, Harewood was awarded remuneration as a former slave trader in the aftermath of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 via the Slave Compensation Act 1837. The British Government took out a £15 million loan (worth £1.8 billion in 2024) with interest from Nathan Mayer Rothschild and Moses Montefiore, which was subsequently paid off by British taxpayers (ending in 2015). Harewood was associated with six different claims; he enslaved roughly 1,277 people in Barbados and Jamaica and received a payment of £26,307 at the time (worth £3.15 million in 2024).

Marriage and issue

Lord Harewood married Henrietta Sebright (d. 15 February 1840), daughter of Sir John Sebright, 6th Baronet, on 3 September 1794. They had eleven children:

• Edward Lascelles, Viscount Lascelles (18 Jul 1796 – 7 Dec 1839), married (1) Ann Elizabeth Rosser, (2) Philippine Munster and died without issue.
• Henry Lascelles, 3rd Earl of Harewood (11 Jun 1797 – 22 Feb 1857)
• William Saunders Sebright Lascelles (29 Oct 1798 – 2 Jul 1851)
• Edwin Lascelles (1799 – 25 Apr 1865), died unmarried.
• Francis Lascelles (12 Feb 1801 – 2 Feb 1814)
• Lady Harriet Lascelles (19 Jun 1802 – 1 Jan 1889), married George Holroyd, 2nd Earl of Sheffield, and had issue.
• Frederick Lascelles (1803 – 13 Oct 1823)
• Lady Frances Anne Lascelles ( 2 Jun 1804 – 7 Dec 1855), married John Thomas Hope, son of General Sir Alexander Hope and had issue.
• Arthur Lascelles (23 Jan 1807 – 19 Jul 1880), married Caroline Frances Brooke, daughter of Richard Brooke, 6th Baronet and had issue.
• Lady Emma Lascelles (16 Mar 1809 – 8 Feb 1865), married Edward Portman, 1st Viscount Portman and had issue.
• Lady Louisa Lascelles (10 Sep 1812 – 10 Mar 1886), married Lord George Henry Cavendish, younger brother of William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire, and had issue.

His wife is mentioned in Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen, in a letter from Mary Crawford to Fanny Price while Fanny is staying with her mother and father in Portsmouth: "I was there, two years ago, when Lady Lascelles had it, and I prefer it over any other house in London." (She is talking about a house in Wimpole Street.)

References

• Archbold, W.A.J. "Lascelles, Henry" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 32. p. 156.
• Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Harewood