Stanhope, Charles, 4th Earl of Harrington (1780 -1851)

Charles Stanhope, eldest son of Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington, and Jane, daughter and coheir of Sir John Fleming, Baronet, of Brampton Park in Middlesex, was known as Viscount Petersham until he succeeded his father as 4th Earl of Harrington in 1829. A Major General in the Army and a Lord of the Bedchamber, he was a leader of fashion during the Regency and a well known eccentric. He never went out until six o clock in the evening, his equipage was all of a certain colour of brown, he invented the Petersham overcoat and Petersham blend of snuff, made his own blacking, and had an outstanding collection of snuff boxes. He married Maria Foote, the actress, 7 April 1831. They had an only surviving daughter and at his death the title passed to his brother, Leicester Fitzgerald Charles Stanhope.