When Capt. Robert Cavendish Spencer was born on 24 October 1791, in Althorp, Northamptonshire, England, United Kingdom, his father, George John Spencer 2nd Earl Spencer, was 33 and his mother, Lady Lavinia Bingham, Countess Shand, was 29. He died on 4 November 1830, in Mediterranean Sea, at the age of 39.
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The Act of Union was a legislative agreement which united England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland under the name of the United Kingdom on January 1, 1801.
The British West Africa Squadron was formed in 1808 to suppress illegal slave trading on the African coastline. The British West Africa Squadron had freed approximately 150,000 people by 1865.
The defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo marks the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon defeated and exiled to St. Helena.
English (Lancashire and Yorkshire): occupational name for someone who dispensed provisions or money, from Middle English spenser(e), spencer(e) ‘household steward, butler, almoner’ (Anglo-Norman French espenser, Old French despensier). Compare Spence and Spender . There is some dispute about the origins of the Spencer family, whose most famous member in recent times was the late Princess of Wales, born Lady Diana Spencer (1961–97). Some sources say that they are descended from William the Conqueror's steward, Robert Despencer. What is clear is that by the 15th century they had become prosperous from sheep farming in Northamptonshire. Robert Spencer (died 1627) was said to be the wealthiest man in England. Their titles have included Earls of Sunderland and Earls Spencer; and through the female line the 5th Earl of Sunderland also became Duke of Marlborough in 1733. This connection was the result of the marriage, in 1700, of the 3rd Duke of Sunderland to the daughter of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. The youngest son of this union, John Spencer (1708–46), was the father of the 1st Earl Spencer (1734–83).
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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