View source for George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan

{{short description|British Army officer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = [[Field Marshal (British Army)|Field Marshal]] [[The Right Honourable]]
| name          = The Earl of Lucan
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GCB}}
| image         = George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan.png
| image_size    = 
| caption       = The 3rd Earl of Lucan. Engraving by D. J. Pound, c. 1860
| nickname      = "The Exterminator", "Lord Look-on"
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1800|04|16|df=yes}}
| birth_place   = [[London]], [[England]], [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1888|11|10|1800|04|16|df=yes}}
| death_place   = [[London]], [[England]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]
| placeofburial = 
| allegiance    = {{flag|United Kingdom}}
| branch        = {{army|United Kingdom}}
| serviceyears  = 1816–1877
| rank          = [[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]]
| unit          = 
| commands      = [[Cavalry|Cavalry Division]]
| battles       = [[Crimean War]]
| awards        = {{Unbulleted list |[[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]] |[[Order of St. Anna|Order of St. Anna, 2nd Class]] (Russia) |[[Order of the Medjidie|Order of the Medjidie, First Class]] (Ottoman Empire)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=22107|page=1251|date=2 March 1858}}</ref> |[[Legion of Honour|Commander of the Legion of Honour]] (France)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=21909|page=2699|date=4 August 1856}}</ref>}}
| spouse        = {{marriage|Lady Anne Brudenell|1829|1877|end=died}}
| relations     = 
| laterwork     = 
}}

'''George Charles Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCB}} (16 April 1800 – 10 November 1888), styled '''Lord Bingham''' before 1839, was an Anglo-Irish peer and military officer. He was one of three men, along with [[Louis Nolan]] and [[FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan|Lord Raglan]], responsible for the fateful order during the [[Battle of Balaclava]] in October 1854 that led to the [[Light cavalry|Light Brigade]] commander, [[James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan|the Earl of Cardigan]], leading the [[Charge of the Light Brigade]]. He was subsequently promoted to field marshal. He was a ruthless landlord during the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]] in [[Ireland]], evicting thousands of his tenants and renting his land to wealthy ranchers. He also came up with a solution that allowed Jews to sit in [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]].

==Life and military career==
[[File:George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan (1800-1888) as a boy by Elizabeth Harcourt.jpg|thumb|upright|left|George, Lord Bingham, at age 14, painted by his sister Elizabeth Harcourt]]
Born the first son of [[Richard Bingham, 2nd Earl of Lucan]], an [[Anglo-Irish people|Anglo-Irish]] peer, and Elizabeth Bingham (née Belasyse), Lord Bingham (as he was styled up until late June 1839) attended [[Westminster School]] but left formal education to be commissioned as an [[ensign (rank)|ensign]] in the [[Royal Warwickshire Regiment|6th Regiment of Foot]] on 29 August 1816.<ref name=odnb>{{cite ODNB|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/2407?docPos=2 |title=George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan |year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/2407 |access-date=9 November 2013}}</ref> He transferred to the [[11th Hussars|11th Light Dragoons]] on 24 December 1818.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=17454|page=378|date=27 February 1818}}</ref>

Lord Bingham became a lieutenant in the [[8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot|8th Regiment of Foot]] on 20 January 1820, a [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] in the [[74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot|74th Regiment of Foot]] on 16 May 1822 and was promoted to major, unattached, on 23 June 1825.<ref name=heath41>Heathcote, p. 41</ref> He transferred to the [[17th Lancers]] on 1 December 1825 and became commanding officer of the regiment with the rank of [[lieutenant colonel]] on 9 November 1826; he lavished such expense on his officers' uniforms and horses that the officers became known as "Bingham's Dandies".<ref name=heath41/> He was also elected as MP for [[Mayo (UK Parliament constituency)|County Mayo]] in 1826<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=18289|page=2282|date=22 September 1826}}</ref> and held that seat until 1830.<ref name=heath41/> During the [[Russo-Turkish War (1828–29)|Russo-Turkish War]], which began in 1828, he acted observer with the [[Imperial Russian Army]].<ref name=heath41/>

==='The Exterminator'===

Lord Bingham succeeded his father as 3rd [[Earl of Lucan]] in the [[Peerage of Ireland]] on 30 June 1839 and, having become an [[List of Irish representative peers|Irish Representative Peer]] in June 1840<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=19870|page=1548|date=30 June 1840}}</ref> and having been promoted to [[colonel]] on 23 November 1841, he became [[Lord Lieutenant of Mayo]] in 1845.<ref name=odnb/> During the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]] in the late 1840s, he was ruthless and introduced mass evictions from villages such as [[Ballinrobe]]. Famously stating that he "would not breed paupers to pay priests," he demolished over 300 homes and evicted 2,000 people in Ballinrobe alone between 1846 and 1849. He even insisted on closing the workhouse in [[Castlebar]] at the height of the Famine. For this, Lord Bingham earned the hatred of many Irishmen and became known as "The Exterminator".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/from-the-files-of-the-dib-the-exterminator/ |title=From the files of the DIB...'the exterminator'|date=13 March 2013|publisher=History Ireland|access-date=12 April 2019}}</ref> He was promoted to [[major general]] on 11 November 1851.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=21262|page=2966|date=11 November 1851}}</ref>

===Crimean War===
[[File:William Simpson - Charge of the light cavalry brigade, 25th Oct. 1854, under Major General the Earl of Cardigan.jpg|thumb|The [[Charge of the Light Brigade]]: it was Lucan who gave the order to Cardigan to lead the charge.]]
At the outbreak of the [[Crimean War]], Lord Lucan applied for a post and was made commander of the [[Cavalry|Cavalry Division]]. His brother-in-law, [[James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan|the 7th Earl of Cardigan]], was one of his subordinates, commanding the [[Light cavalry|Light Brigade]] – an unfortunate choice as the two men heartily detested each other.<ref name=odnb/> Promoted to brevet [[lieutenant general]] on 18 August 1854,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=21584|page=2566|date=18 August 1854}}</ref> he was present at the [[Battle of Alma]] in September 1854 but, on the orders of the army commander, [[FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan|Lord Raglan]], he held his division in reserve. This incident earned Lucan the undeserved, but persistent, nickname of "Lord Look-on".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Adkin|first1=Mark|title=The Charge: The Real Reason Why the Light Brigade Was Lost|date=1996|publisher=Pimlico|location=London|isbn=9781844137343|page=64}}</ref><ref name=heath42>Heathcote, p. 42</ref> 

At the [[Battle of Balaclava]] in October 1854, Lucan received an order from Raglan that the cavalry were to advance. Raglan's order stated that infantry would be in support,  but none had arrived so Lucan did not comply.<ref name=SD403/> It was not until Raglan saw that Russian troops were about to capture some  artillery pieces did he issue a further order, now requiring an "immediate" cavalry advance. At this point Lucan ordered Cardigan to lead the Light Brigade forward, and the [[Charge of the Light Brigade]] commenced. Lucan in turn led the Heavy Brigade forward in support, at a more restrained pace. Both brigades came under heavy fire, and Lucan was slightly wounded.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=21624|page=3459|date=12 November 1854}}</ref> While the Light Brigade continued the charge as far as the enemy guns, receiving very heavy casualties and with no significant gain,<ref>Calthorpe, p. 132</ref> Lucan ordered the Heavy Brigade to retire.<ref name=SD403>{{cite book |last1=David |first1=Saul |author1-link=Saul David |title=The homicidal Earl: the life of Lord Cardigan |date=1997 |publisher=Abacus |location=London |isbn=9780349108544 |page=403 |edition=1999}}</ref> Raglan blamed Lucan for the loss ("You have lost the light brigade"), and censured him in despatches. Although Lucan complained against this censure, as the relationship between the army commander and the cavalry commander had clearly broken down, he was recalled to England, where he returned at the beginning of March 1855.<ref name=heath42/>

On his arrival, Lucan's demand for a [[court-martial]] was declined and instead he defended himself with a speech to the [[House of Lords]] on 19 March 1855, blaming Raglan and his deceased [[aide-de-camp]], Captain [[Louis Nolan]].<ref name=odnb/> This tactic appears to have been successful as he was subsequently appointed [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]] on 5 July 1855,<ref name=kcb>{{London Gazette|issue=21743|page=2654|date=10 July 1855}}</ref> and colonel of the [[8th King's Royal Irish Hussars|8th Light Dragoons]], who had charged with the Light Brigade, on 17 November 1855.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=21823|page=4589|date=4 December 1855}}</ref>

==Later life==
[[File:George-Charles-Bingham,-3rd-Earl-of-Lucan-by-Sir-Francis-Grant-(color).jpg|thumb|Portrait by [[Francis Grant (artist)|Francis Grant]], c.1856]]
A significant contribution was made by Lucan to Parliament when he produced a solution to the problem of admitting Jews to [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]]. Prior to this, distinguished Jews had declined to take the oath "on the true faith of a Christian" and having not been sworn in as required by statute, were refused voting rights although having been elected an MP. Lucan proposed, by way of a compromise, that each House could decide and modify its own oath. The [[House of Lords]], who had long opposed the admission of Jews, agreed to this. A prominent Jew, [[Lionel de Rothschild|Lionel Nathan Rothschild]], was thus allowed to enter the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] and was sworn in on 26 July 1858.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rothschildarchive.org/ib/?doc=/ib/articles/BW2a |title=Journey Bank to Westminster: Lionel de Rothschild's journey to parliament, 1847–1858 |publisher=Rothschold Archive |access-date=9 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109151121/http://www.rothschildarchive.org/ib/?doc=%2Fib%2Farticles%2FBW2a |archive-date=9 November 2013}}</ref>

Although Lucan never again saw active duty, he was promoted to [[lieutenant general]] on 24 December 1858,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=22217|page=79|date=11 January 1859}}</ref> and, having become colonel of the [[1st Regiment of Life Guards]] on 27 February 1865,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=22945|page=1324|date=3 March 1865}}</ref> he was to promoted to general on 28 August 1865 and advanced to [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]] in 1869.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=23012|page=4409|date=12 September 1865}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=23503|page=3179|date=2 June 1869}}</ref> He formally retired in October 1877,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=24508|page=5455|date=2 October 1877}}</ref> but after some lobbying he was promoted to [[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|field marshal]] on 21 June 1887.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25773|page=223|date=5 January 1888}}</ref> He died at 13 South Street, Park Lane, London, on 10 November 1888 and was buried at [[Laleham]] in [[Middlesex]].<ref name=odnb/>

==Family==
In 1829, Bingham married Lady Anne Brudenell, seventh daughter of [[Robert Brudenell, 6th Earl of Cardigan]]; they had six children, two daughters being still born or dying soon after birth:<ref name=odnb/>

*[[George Bingham, 4th Earl of Lucan|Charles, 4th Earl of Lucan]]. He was married to Cecilia Catherine Gordon-Lennox the daughter of [[Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond]]. They had issue.
*Augusta (7 February 1832 – 3 July 1888), married her cousin [[Henry Sturt, 1st Baron Alington]] on 10 September 1853, and had issue.
*Lavinia (circa 1836 – 15 September 1864), married [[Charles Hardinge, 2nd Viscount Hardinge]] MP for Downpatrick on 10 April 1856, and had issue.
*Rear-Admiral Richard (6 January 1847 – 12 November 1924), married Mary Elizabeth Cole the paternal great-granddaughter of [[Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby]] and maternal granddaughter of [[Henry Brooke Parnell, 1st Baron Congleton]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book| last = Calthorpe| first = Somerset John Gough| title = Letters from Headquarters: Or, The Realities of the War in the Crimea, by an Officer on the Staff| publisher = John Murray| year = 1857| location = London| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=okUQAAAAYAAJ&q=Letters+from+Headquarters+calthorpe&pg=PA159}}
* {{cite book|last=Heathcote|first=Tony|title=The British Field Marshals 1736–1997|publisher= Leo Cooper|year= 1999|isbn= 0-85052-696-5}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|last=Adkin|first=Mark|title=The Charge: The Real Reason Why The Light Brigade Was Lost|year=1996|publisher=Leo Cooper|isbn=978-0850524697}}
*{{cite book|last=Brighton|first=Terry|author-link=Terry Brighton|title=Hell Riders: the Truth about the Charge of the Light Brigade|publisher=Penguin|year=2005|isbn=978-0670915286}} 
*{{cite book|last=Woodham-Smith|first=Cecil|author-link=Cecil Woodham-Smith|title=The Reason Why: The True Story of the Fatal Charge of the Light Brigade|year=1953|publisher=Penguin Group|isbn=978-0140012781|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/reasonwhybehinds00wood}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan}}
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-george-lucan | George Bingham }}
* {{Librivox author |id=8666}}

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{{succession box
 | title=[[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Mayo (UK Parliament constituency)|Mayo]]
 | years=1826–1830
 | with = [[James Browne (1793–1854)|James Browne]]
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{{succession box | before=Sir John Brown | title=Colonel of the [[8th King's Royal Irish Hussars|8th (The King's Royal Irish) Hussars]] | years=1855–1865 | after=[[John Lawrenson (military)|John Lawrenson]]}}
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{{succession box | before=[[Howe Browne, 2nd Marquess of Sligo|The Marquess of Sligo]] | title=[[Lord Lieutenant of Mayo]] | years=1845–1888 | after=[[Arthur Gore, 5th Earl of Arran|The Earl of Arran]]}}
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{{succession box | before=[[Richard Bingham, 2nd Earl of Lucan|Richard Bingham]] | title=[[Earl of Lucan]] | years=1839–1888 | after=[[Charles Bingham, 4th Earl of Lucan|Charles Bingham]]}}
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{{succession box | title=[[List of Irish representative peers|Representative peer for Ireland]] | years=1840–1888 | before=[[John Willoughby Cole, 2nd Earl of Enniskillen|The Earl of Enniskillen]] | after=[[Eyre Challoner Henry Massey, 4th Baron Clarina|The Lord Clarina]] }}
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{{Great Hunger}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucan, George Bingham, 3rd Earl of}}
[[Category:1800 births]]
[[Category:1888 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Anglo-Irish people]]
[[Category:19th-century Irish landowners]]
[[Category:17th Lancers officers]]
[[Category:8th King's Royal Irish Hussars officers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Crimean War]]
[[Category:British field marshals]]
[[Category:British Life Guards officers]]
[[Category:Irish representative peers]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Lord-lieutenants of Mayo]]
[[Category:Politicians from County Mayo]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Mayo constituencies (1801–1922)|Bingham, George Bingham, Lord]]
[[Category:Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers officers]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1826–1830|Bingham, George Bingham, Lord]]
[[Category:UK MPs who inherited peerages]]
[[Category:People educated at Westminster School, London]]
[[Category:Burials in Surrey]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 2nd class]]
[[Category:Earls of Lucan|George]]
[[Category:Military personnel from London]]
[[Category:Bingham Baronets, of Castlebar]]
[[Category:Military personnel from County Mayo]]