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George William Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, 4th Marquess of Ailesbury (8 June 1863 – 10 April 1894), styled Viscount Savernake from 1878 to 1886, was the son of George John Brudenell-Bruce and Lady Evelyn Mary Craven, and succeeded his grandfather as 4th Marquess on the latter's death on 18 October 1886. On his death in 1894 he was succeeded in the marquessate, and his other titles, by his uncle. According to family records, he went by the name William and was known informally as Willie.[1]
The Most Honourable The Marquess of Ailesbury | |
|---|---|
 William Brudenell-Bruce, 4th Marquess of Ailesbury, as caricatured by Liborio Prosperi in Vanity Fair, April 1888 | |
| Marquess of Ailesbury | |
| Tenure | 1883–1894 |
| Predecessor | Ernest Brudenell-Bruce |
| Successor | Henry Brudenell-Bruce |
| Born | George William Thomas Brudenell-Bruce 8 June 1863 |
| Died | 10 April 1894 (aged 30) Brixton, England |
| Spouse(s) |
Dorothy Julia Haseley
(m. 1884) |
| Father | George John Brudenell-Bruce |
| Mother | Evelyn Mary Craven |
Early life
editBrudenell-Bruce was born on 8 June 1863. In his youth, he attended Eton, but got into trouble, and left the school "under a cloud".[2]
Career
editOn 1 July 1881 he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the part-time 3rd (Royal Berkshire Militia) Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment, and resigned on 11 April 1886.[3][4]
Gambling problems
editHe became a habitual gambler, forcing his grandfather to step in and pay hundreds of thousands of pounds to satisfy his creditors. In the process of paying off certain creditors, the 3rd Marquess was forced to sell the family's Yorkshire properties to raise the more than £175,000 of debt Willie had amassed.[5] Upon succeeding his grandfather in the family estates, Willie's propensity for gambling only increased, and he soon found his entire estate approaching bankruptcy, amassing another huge round of debts exceeding 230,000 GBP.[6]
During the legal proceedings in 1891,[7][8] many offers were made to buy the great Savernake estates, including one by Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, then chairman of the board and former CEO of the Guinness Company,[9] to purchase Savernake for £750,000.[10] However, the Board of Trustees of Savernake, headed by Ailesbury's uncle, Lord Henry Brudenell-Bruce, fought hard to prevent Ailesbury from selling.[11][12] After years of legal battles and appeals, Edward Guinness, by then known as Lord Iveagh, became impatient and withdrew his offer, after a 1 May 1893 deadline was not met.[13] Not long after that, Ailesbury suffered an untimely death, brought about by a sudden illness, and due mainly to his excessive lifestyle.[14]
The April 1888 Vanity Fair caricature of William was originally published with a caption that is quoted, in part: "Lord Ailesbury is at bottom an excellently good creature ... But he can rarely remember not to forget himself."[15]
Family
editOn 6 May 1884, Willie married the daughter of Thomas Haseley, an actress named Dorothy Julia Haseley, better known to [contemporary] theatre-goers as "Dolly Tester".[16] The marriage produced no children.
Lord Ailesbury died, aged 30, on 10 April 1894 at Leander-road, Brixton, from heart disease. He was succeeded by his uncle, Henry Brudenell-Bruce.[17]
Notes
edit- ^ Wardens, page 310 as "dear Willie". Wardens, page 312 as "poor, unfortunate Willie", cited from 3rd Marquess Ailesbury's diary
- ^ Wardens, page 310.
- ^ Army List.
- ^ Thoyts, pp. 209, 212.
- ^ Wardens, page 313.
- ^ Wardens, page 318
- ^ "AN IMPOVERISHED PEER.; THE MARQUIS OF AILESBURY PERMITTED TO SELL SAVERNAKE FOREST". The New York Times. 13 December 1891. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ^ Gazette, the Pall Mall (27 December 1891). "SALE OF AILESBURY'S SAVERNAKE ESTATE". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ^ Wardens, page 319.
- ^ "DEBTS OF AILESBURY.; PROBABLE PURCHASER OF SAVERNAKE -- THE MARQUIS'S MARRIAGE". The New York Times. 5 March 1892. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ^ Wardens, page 321.
- ^ "A GREAT ESTATE WASTED.; THE MARQUIS OF AILESBURY'S DEBTS FAR EXCEED HIS ASSETS". The New York Times. 21 December 1892. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ^ Wardens, page 327.
- ^ Wardens, page 330.
- ^ Wardens, plate 14, facing page 316
- ^ "Death of the Marquis of Ailesbury". South Australian Register. Vol. LIX, no. 14, 792. South Australia. 11 April 1894. p. 5. Retrieved 26 June 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "DEATH OF THE MARQUESS OF AILESBURY". The Standard. 11 April 1894. p. 2. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
References
edit- The Earl of Cardigan (1949). The Wardens of Savernake Forest. Routledge & Paul.
- Emma Elizabeth Thoyts, History of the Royal Berkshire Militia (Now 3rd Battalion Royal Berks Regiment), Sulhamstead, Berks, 1897/Scholar Select, ISBN 978-1-37645405-5.