Charles Marsham, 2nd Earl of Romney


Charles Marsham, 2nd Earl of Romney, styled Viscount Marsham between 1801 and 1811, was a British peer and politician.

Biography

Romney was the son of Charles Marsham, 1st Earl of Romney, and Lady Frances, daughter of Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont.
Romney was Member of Parliament for Hythe from 1798 to 1802 and from 1806 to 1807 and for Downton from 1803 to 1806. In 1811 he succeeded his father in the earldom and entered the House of Lords.
According to the Legacies of British Slave-Ownership at the University College London, Romney was awarded a payment as a slave trader in the aftermath of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 with the Slave Compensation Act 1837. The British Government took out a £15 million loan with interest from Nathan Mayer Rothschild and Moses Montefiore which was subsequently paid off by the British taxpayers. Romney was associated with three different claims, two of which were successful, he owned 432 slaves in Saint Kitts and Nevis and received a £7,268 payment at the time.

Marriages and children

Lord Romney was twice married.. On 9 September 1806 he married Sophia Pitt, daughter of William Morton Pitt. They had one son and four daughters:
Lady Romney died in September 1812, shortly after the birth of her youngest child.
On 8 February 1832 Lord Romney married secondly the Hon Mary Elizabeth Townshend, daughter of John Townshend, 2nd Viscount Sydney and widow of George James Cholmondeley. They had one son:
Lord Romney died in March 1845, aged 67, and was succeeded by his only son from his first marriage, Charles. Lady Romney died in December 1847.