George Frederick D'Arcy Lambton
George Frederick D'Arcy Lambton (1828-1879), 2nd Earl of Durham
Eldest surviving son of John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, and his second wife Lady Louisa Elizabeth, daughter of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey.
1879 Obituary [1]
The EARL OF DURHAM, one of the original members of the Iron and Steel Institute, died at his residence, Hill Street, Berkeley Square, on Thursday, the 28th November, at the age of fifty-one. The last surviving son of John George, first Earl of Durham, sometime Governor-General of Canada, and ambassador to the Court of St. Petersburg, and a member of Lord Grey's Reform Cabinet, he was born at Copse Hill, Surrey, on the 5th of September 1828. His mother was Lady Louise Elizabeth Grey, eldest daughter of Charles, second Earl Grey, S.G. He succeeded to his father's title in July 1840, while still in his minority. He therefore never held a seat in the Lower House of Parliament.
In 1854 he was appointed Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of the County of Durham, in succession to the late Lord Londonderry, and for many years he held the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the Northumberland Rifle Volunteers. In politics he was a strong supporter of the Liberal party. Lord Durham married in 1854 Lady Beatrice Frances Hamilton, second daughter of the Duke of Abercorn, by whom he has left a numerous family—four daughters and nine sons.
Lord Durham was one of the largest colliery owners in the North of England, owning about a dozen collieries of exceptional importance in the northern division of the county from which he took his title. He took a deep interest in industrial affairs, although his rather retiring disposition prevented him from coming prominently to the front in connection with movements affecting trade and commerce.