Charles Richard Sackville-West, 6th Earl De La Warr KCB (13 November 1815 – 23 April 1873), styled Lord West following the untimely death of his elder brother thus between 1850 and 1869, was a British soldier officer, rising to major-general for the last 8 years of his life. He was a peer for the last 4+1⁄6 years of his life, as his father died aged 77. After he killed himself, unmarried, the title and main estates including Ashdown Forest and Buckhurst Park, Sussex passed to his brother through whom the title descended.

Early life

Sackville-West was the second son of George Sackville-West, 5th Earl De La Warr, and Lady Elizabeth Sackville, daughter of John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset. He was notably brother of:

He was educated at Harrow.

Career and death

Sackville-West served in the British Army and was appointed aide-de-camp and military secretary to Sir Hugh Gough in India in 1845. He fought at the Battle of Sobraon in 1846 during the First Anglo-Sikh War. In 1850 he became known by the courtesy title Lord West after the untimely death of his elder brother, Lord Cantelupe who was likewise unmarried.

Promoted to major in 1852[1] and to lieutenant-colonel in 1855,[2] he served in the Crimean War. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1855[3] and an Officer of the Legion of Honour in 1856 and awarded the Order of the Medjidie in 1858. In 1864 he was promoted to major-general. He succeeded his father in the earldom in 1869.

In 1871 he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB).[4]

Lord Delaware[n 1] died in April 1873, aged 57, by drowning himself in the Cam.[5][6][n 2] He was unmarried and was succeeded in the earldom by his next-youngest brother, Reginald, Lord Buckhurst.

References and footnotes

Citations

  1. ^ "No. 21312". The London Gazette. 23 April 1852. p. 1146.
  2. ^ "No. 21674". The London Gazette. 9 March 1855. p. 1005.
  3. ^ "No. 21754". The London Gazette. 31 July 1855. p. 2913.
  4. ^ "No. 23739". The London Gazette. 20 May 1871. p. 2473.
  5. ^ General Register Office, certificate and freely indexed: Vol. 3b page 288, June quarter deaths in Cambridge Reg. Dist. under surnames Delawarr and Delaware.
  6. ^ "milfordonsea.org". www.milfordonsea.org. Retrieved 22 April 2023.

Footnotes

  1. ^ A longstanding variant spelling used for instance in his death records
  2. ^ Theresa wife of Frederick Richard West, grandson of the 2nd Earl De La Warr (thus Frederick was (first) cousin to the subject's father), erected a memorial to the 6th Earl De La Warr (1815-1873); his death was otherwise not memorialized as he killed himself. The adjacent source says speculation remains on the relationship between the unmarried earl and this lady.

External links

Peerage of Great Britain Preceded byGeorge John Sackville-West Earl De La Warr 1869–1873 Succeeded byReginald Windsor Sackville
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