Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer

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Albert Edward John Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer, Template:Post-nominals (23 May 1892 – 9 June 1975), styled The Honourable Albert Spencer until 1910 and Viscount Althorp from 1910 to 1922, and known less formally as Jack Spencer, was a British peer. He was the paternal grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Early life

Lord Spencer was born in London, the son of Charles Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer, and his wife, the former Margaret Baring, second daughter of Edward Baring, 1st Baron Revelstoke.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> His godparents included Edward VII.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

He was educated at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge,<ref name="who">Template:Cite book</ref> where he was a friend of Lionel Lupton, who studied the same subject at Trinity. They signed up together to fight in World War I. Lupton's sister Olive Middleton was the great grandmother of Catherine Middleton<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> who married the great-grandson of Lord Spencer, Prince William, in April 2011.

Career

On 5 August 1914, Spencer was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 1st Regiment of Life Guards,<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> was promoted to lieutenant on 21 October 1914,<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> appointed an aide-de-camp on 9 May 1917,<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> and promoted to captain on 15 June 1917.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> When 1st Life Guards merged with the 2nd Life Guards on 18 November 1922, Spencer was appointed a captain in the new regiment.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> He retired from the army on 20 September 1924,<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> but remained a member of the Regular Army Reserve of Officers until reaching the mandatory retirement age on 2 June 1943.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>

On 27 August 1924, Lord Spencer was appointed the Honorary Colonel of the 4th (Territorial) Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment,<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> remaining in that role when it was renamed 50th (Northampton Regiment) Anti-Aircraft Battalion on 1 October 1937,<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> and throughout its various post-war incarnations<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> until finally relinquishing his appointment on 1 April 1967.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> He was awarded the Territorial Efficiency Decoration on 12 September 1944,<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> with two clasps on 20 November 1953.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>

On 9 April 1935, Lord Spencer was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Northamptonshire,<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> and became Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire on 11 March 1952,<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> serving until 31 July 1967.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> He was made a knight of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem on 1 July 1955.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>

Lord Spencer was active in the local politics of Northamptonshire as a Conservative councillor. He opened his ancestral home, Althorp, to the public and was a well-known art connoisseur, being a trustee of the Wallace Collection and chairman of the Royal School of Needlework.<ref>Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref> He was a Fellow of both the Society of Antiquaries of London and the Royal Society of Arts, and for eight years in the 1960s he was Chair of the Advisory Council of the Victoria and Albert Museum.<ref name="who" /> He was Chairman of the Governors at Wellingborough School from 1946 to 1972.

Personal life

Lord Spencer married Lady Cynthia Hamilton, second daughter of the 3rd Duke of Abercorn, on 26 February 1919 at St. James's Church in Piccadilly, London, and they had two children:

• Lady Anne Spencer (4 August 1920 – 24 February 2020)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> married in 1944 to Captain Christopher Wake-Walker (1920–1998), son of Admiral Sir Frederic Wake-Walker, had issue.

• John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer (24 January 1924 – 29 March 1992).

Lord Spencer died at St Matthews Nursing Home, Northampton, after a short illness,<ref>Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref> and was succeeded by his son, John, who was the father of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Ancestry

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External links

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