Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland KG, PC (5 September 1641 – 28 September 1702) was an English statesman and nobleman from the Spencer family. His sarcasm and bad temper, and his reputation as a ruthless advocate of absolute monarchy, made him numerous enemies, and he was forced to flee abroad in 1688, but later underwent a political rehabilitation. In his last years he appeared in a somewhat different light as a disinterested adviser to the Crown who neither sought nor wished for office. By the standards of the Restoration Court, his private life was remarkably free from scandal.

Robert Spencer was born in Paris in 1641. His father was Henry Spencer, 1st Earl of Sunderland, who was killed at the First Battle of Newbury, and his mother was the Lady Dorothy Sidney, daughter of Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester. At the age of three he inherited his father's dignities, becoming Baron of Wormleighton and Earl of Sunderland.[2] He died on 28 September 1702 at Althorp, Brington, Northamptonshire, England, from a palpitation of the heart.2 He was buried on 7 October 1702 at Brington, Northamptonshire, England.2 His will was proven (by probate) in November 1702.3

Family

He married Anne Digby, daughter of George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol, on 9 June 1665. After an awkward start, when Sunderland broke off the engagement for no known reason,[22] the marriage was a very happy one: Lady Sunderland was rumoured to have had numerous lovers, but there is little evidence to support this, and Sunderland, despite his questionable political principles, was a devoted husband and father. They had at least five children.[23]

1. Robert Spencer (1666–1688).
2. Anne Spencer (1667–1690), married James Douglas, 4th Duke of Hamilton.
3. Isabella Spencer (1668–1684).
4. Elizabeth Spencer (1671–1704), married Donough MacCarthy, 4th Earl of Clancarty.
5. Charles Spencer (c. 1674–1722), succeeded as 3rd Earl of Sunderland.

They are believed to have had two or more other children who died young, as Lady Sunderland referred in a letter to "my two living of seven children".

There is no evidence John Duncan Spencer was the son of Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland

2nd Earl of Sunderland ~ a precursor to the present title-bought a 100 room home called the Althorp House & also bought Breat Brington, a hilltop cluster honey-stone houses, in 1508. The Spencers were sheep farmers & moved into the area in 1486. As agriculture declined, later earls gradually sold off chunks of the land.

Links

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Spencer,_2nd_Earl_of_Sunderland
• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=14792913
• http://www.geneall.net/U/per_page.php?id=35383
• http://histfam.familysearch.org/getperson.php?personID=I67602&tree=... (dead link)
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p10538.htm#i105374

  ---

Citations

https://thepeerage.com/p10538.htm#i105374

1. [S6] G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume XII/1, page 484. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage.
2. [S6] Cokayne, and others, The Complete Peerage, volume XII/1, page 485.
3. [S6] Cokayne, and others, The Complete Peerage, volume XII/1, page 486.
4. [S6] Cokayne, and others, The Complete Peerage, volume XI/1, page 484.
5. [S6] Cokayne, and others, The Complete Peerage, volume XII/1, page 487.
6. [S10] John Pearson, Blood Royal: The Story of the Spencers and the Royals (London, U.K.: HarperCollins, 1999), endpiece. Hereinafter cited as Blood Royal.
7. [S6] Cokayne, and others, The Complete Peerage, volume IV, page 162.