Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont

Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont (1710 - 21 August 1763), a son of Sir William Wyndham, succeeded his uncle, Algernon Seymour, 7th Duke of Somerset, as 2nd Earl of Egremont in 1750. Charles, who had succeeded to his fathers baronetcy in 1740, inherited Somersets estates in Cumberland and Sussex. Wyndham was a member of parliament from 1734 to 1750, and in October 1761 he was appointed Secretary of State for the Southern Department in succession to William Pitt. His term of office, during which he acted in concert with his brother-in-law, George Grenville, was mainly occupied with the declaration of war on Spain and with the negotiations for peace with France and Spain, the terms of which the earl seems to have disliked. He was also to the fore during the proceedings against Wilkes, and he died on 21 August 1763. Horace Walpole perhaps rates Egremonts talents too low when he says he had neither knowledge of business, nor the smallest share of parliamentary abilities.

Original text of this article from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.