George Cadogan, 5th Earl Cadogan

Garter stall plate of George Cadogan, 5th Earl Cadogan, KG, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Arms: Quarterly 1 & 2: Gules, a lion rampant reguardant or (Cadogan); 2 & 3: Argent, three boar's heads couped sable. Crest: Out of a ducal coronet or a dragon's head vert

George Henry Cadogan, 5th Earl Cadogan (12 May 1840 – 6 March 1915), styled Viscount Chelsea from 1864 to 1873, was a British Conservative politician.

Background and education Cadogan was the eldest son of Henry Cadogan, 4th Earl Cadogan, by his wife Mary, daughter of Reverend Gerald Wellesley, younger brother of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.

Military service As Viscount Chelsea, Cadogan served as a Major in the Royal Westminster Militia from 1865 to 1872; he was later Honorary Colonel of the battalion (which had become the 5th (Royal Westminster Militia) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers) from 1886, and of the 2nd (South Middlesex) Rifle Volunteer Corps from March 1892 to November 1902.

Political career In the 1868 general election, he stood unsuccessfully as parliamentary candidate for Bury, Lancashire but was successfully returned as member of parliament for Bath in a by-election in May 1873, just before he was ennobled on the death of his father on 8 June and had to move to the House of Lords. He was made Under-Secretary for War in 1875 and Under-Secretary to the Colonies in 1878 by Disraeli.

He served under Lord Salisbury as Lord Privy Seal from 1886 to 1892 (after 1887 in the Cabinet), and again in the cabinet as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1895 to 1902. In the latter office, he supported the Land Law (Ireland) Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c. 47) which enabled Irish tenants to buy their homes from their landlords' estates and pressed the Treasury for more liberal terms than initially intended, appointed commissions to investigate intermediate education (1899) and university education (1901), and sponsored the Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act 1899 (62 & 63 Vict. c. 50) that created a department of agriculture, industries and technical education for Ireland.

He was first Mayor of Chelsea in 1900 and a justice of the peace for the counties of Middlesex, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and London.

Family

On 16 May 1865, he married Lady Beatrix Craven, fourth daughter of William Craven, 2nd Earl of Craven. They had nine children:

Albert Edward George Henry, briefly Viscount Chelsea (1866–1878), a godchild of Albert, Prince of Wales, later Edward VII. Henry Arthur, Viscount Chelsea (1868–1908). Gerald Oakley, 6th Earl Cadogan and briefly Viscount Chelsea (1869–1933). Lady Emily Julia (1871–1909), married William Brownlow, 3rd Baron Lurgan. Lewin Edward (1872–1917). Lady Sophie Beatrix Mary (1874–1943), married Sir Samuel Scott, 6th Baronet. William George Sydney (1879–1914), killed in action. Edward Cecil George (1880–1962). Alexander George Montagu (1884–1968).

He bought Culford Park, Culford, Suffolk, in 1889 as a family home. It is now a private school.

Lord Cadogan's wife died in 1907 and on 12 January 1911, he married his first cousin once removed, Adele, daughter of Lippo Neri, Count Palagi del Palagio and Olivia Georgiana Cadogan. Lord Cadogan died in Chelsea, London, on 6 March 1915, aged 74. The Countess Cadogan died in February 1960.