Dictionary of National Biography, 1927 supplement/Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Charles Stewart
VANE - TEMPEST - STEWART, CHARLES STEWART, sixth Marquess of Londonderry (1852–1915), politician, was born in London 16 July 1852. He was the eldest of the three sons of the fifth Marquess, George Henry Robert Charles William Vane-Tempest, by his wife, Mary Cornelia, only daughter of Sir John Edwards, first baronet, of Garth, Montgomeryshire. A year after his succession to the marquessate he added by royal licence the family name of Stewart to that of Vane-Tempest. He was educated at Eton, and spent a year at the National University of Ireland before matriculating at Christ Church, Oxford. In 1875 he married Lady Theresa, eldest daughter of Charles John Chetwynd-Talbot, nineteenth Earl of Shrewsbury.
In 1878 Vane-Tempest entered the House of Commons as member for the then undivided county of Down, and sat until, at his father's death in 1884, he took his seat in the House of Lords as Earl Vane. Two years later the political world was agitated by Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule proposals, which were rejected by the electorate in the summer of 1886. In the ensuing conservative ministry Mr. Arthur (afterwards Earl of) Balfour was made chief secretary for Ireland, and Londonderry became viceroy. The Irish position was difficult, for nationalist feeling ran high during a period of coercion, but he filled the viceroyalty with tact and courage, so that when he left Dublin in 1889 the discontent had abated and some measure of prosperity had been restored. He was again prominent in opposition to the second Home Rule Bill of 1893, and presided over the great meeting at which the political alliance between the conservatives and liberal unionists was formally ratified. On Lord Salisbury's return to power in 1895 Londonderry held no office in the government, but he entered it in 1900 as postmaster-general. In 1902, though diffident of his capacity for the post, he became the first president of the Board of Education. He had already had some experience of educational questions, for he had been chairman of the London School Board from 1895 to 1897. As president he administered with success Mr. Balfour's Education Act of 1902–1903. From 1903 to 1905 he was also lord president of the Council.
After the liberals came into office in 1906 Londonderry, as far as politics were concerned, confined his attention almost exclusively to Irish affairs. A consistent conservative in his views, he opposed the Parliament Bill, and when Mr. Asquith's government reopened the subject of Home Rule it fell to him as president of the Ulster unionist council to lead the opposition to it. His was the second signature to the Ulster covenant (28 September 1912), and in the sessions which followed he spoke often in the House of Lords in support of Ulster. The outbreak of war in 1914 caused the suspension of party hostilities, and the Home Rule Bill, twice rejected by the Lords, was allowed to pass, on the understanding that for the present it remained inoperative. Londonderry did not live to see the measure take a different shape in 1920.
Londonderry found time for much charitable work. As lord-lieutenant of Durham and a great coal-owner, he played a considerable part in the life of the county. He was an ideal landlord, and spared no effort to improve the conditions of those about him, providing for his miners churches, schools, clubs, and institutes. His hospitality was noted, and King Edward VII was his guest on five occasions at Wynyard Park, Stockton-on-Tees. In all his social and philanthropic activities he was well seconded by his wife, who survived him only four years, dying in 1919. He was also a keen sportsman, interested in the turf and in the breeding of race-horses, although he never had the good fortune to own a winner of any of the classic events. A patron of agriculture, he farmed upon a large scale.
Londonderry was a sincere and honourable man, of the highest character. Courteous and simple in manner he was always popular, and he had a capacity for friendship. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1886, and was created K.G. in 1888. He died of pneumonia at Wynyard Park 8 February 1915. He left a son and a daughter. The son, Charles Stewart Henry (born 1878), succeeded him as seventh Marquess, and the daughter, Helen Mary Theresa, married in 1902 Lord Stavordale, afterwards sixth Earl of Ilchester. A younger son, Charles Stewart Reginald, died in 1899.
[The Times, 9 February 1915; private information. Portrait, Royal Academy Pictures, 1919.]