William Harry Vane, 1st Duke of Cleveland [Earl of Darlington; Marquess of Cleveland]

Son of Henry Vane, 2nd Earl of Darlington (1726/7–1792) and Margaret (1733-1800), daughter of Robert Lowther and sister of James Lowther, first earl of Lonsdale. Born July 1766, St James's Square, London. Educated privately and at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1783).

William Harry Vane, 1st Duke of Cleveland was styled Viscount Barnard until 1792, known as The Earl of Darlington 1792-1827 and as The Marquess of Cleveland 1827-1833. Created Duke of Cleveland, 1833.

Married (1) 17 September 1787, Lady Katherine Margaret (1766–1807), second daughter and co-heir of Harry Powlett or Paulet, sixth duke of Bolton; 3 sons, 5 daughters; (2) 27 July 1813, Elizabeth (1777–1861), daughter of Robert Russell, market gardener, of Newton, Yorkshire. Second wife his mistress for some years, and had previously been that of Thomas Coutts, the banker. She inherited substantially under her husband's will.

As Viscount Barnard he was MP for Totnes in 1788–90, and for Winchelsea (which his father had recently purchased) in 1790–92.

"His political allegiances fluctuated; he started as a whig, but generally supported Pitt, until succeeding as earl of Darlington on 8 September 1792. Thereafter he became increasingly alienated from Pitt, who was unwilling to elevate Darlington in the peerage. He supported the ministries of Canning and Wellington as an independent. Although he seldom spoke in the House of Lords, he was an advocate of political reform, and presented there a petition from South Shields on the subject on 3 March 1829. He proved himself throughout an influential supporter of the bill, and willing enough to abandon his six borough seats. Indeed, he was said to have purchased the seats to ensure his marquessate, and given them up to gain a dukedom: he was created marquess of Cleveland in 1827 and duke of Cleveland in 1833. However, his support for reform was such that he disinherited his elder sons (who had become tories) in favour of his youngest son, Lord Harry Vane, who remained a whig."

Main interest was in sport - hunting and horse racing.

Died in Cleveland House, St James's Square, London 1842; buried Staindrop church, co. Durham (monument).

Succeeded by each of his three sons in turn, none of whom had any legitimate heirs.

Lord Brougham, a lifelong friend, one of his executors.

Will: left almost £1 million in addition to huge estates, around £1,250,000 in consols, and plate and jewels to the value of a further £1 million.

Sons included Hon. William John Frederick Vane, afterwards Powlett (1792-1864) of Langton Grange, Co. Durham and Somerby, Leicestershire. MP for Winchelsea (1812-1815), Durham County (1815-1831), St Ives, (1846-1852) and Ludlow (1852-1857).

T71/898 Barbados claim no. 3184 (Lowther).

William D. Rubinstein, Who were the rich? A biographical dictionary of British wealth-holders Volume Two 1840-1859 (MS) reference 1842/26. His sons Sir Henry Vane [William D. Rubinstein, Who were the rich? 1860- (Volumes 3 and 4, manuscripts in preparation), reference 1864/15 left £800,000] and William John Frederick Vane 'Lord William Powlett (q.v.) [1864/16 left £180,000] both inherited the Dukedom.

H. C. G. Matthew (ed.), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2004-); article by William Carr, rev. K. D. Reynolds; R. G. Thorne (ed.), The House of Commons, 1790-1820 (5 vols., London, Secker & Warburg for the History of Parliament Trust, 1986), vol. 5, p. 433. For further details of Lord William Powlett, see Thorne, ibid., pp. 433-4.

There was an obituary in the Gentleman's Magazine, 1842, I, p. 545.

The portrait of William Harry Vane, 1st Duke of Cleveland, was by Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey. Pencil, circa 1820; 20 in. x 25 1/2 in. (508 mm x 648 mm); given by Mrs George Jones, 1871. The drawing was one of a number of preliminary drawings for busts and statues by Sir Francis Chantrey, circa 1807-40.
For the original: National Portrait Gallery, NPG 316a(17)