Robert Carrington, 2nd Baron Carrington

British politician (1796–1868)

Robert John Carrington, 2nd Baron Carrington, (16 January 1796 – 17 March 1868), was a politician and a baron in the Peerage of Great Britain. He was the son of Robert Smith, 1st Baron Carrington, and Anne Boldero Barnard. He adopted the name "Carrington" in 1839.

Still named Smith, he served as a Member of Parliament for Wendover from 1818. He had succeeded his first cousin Abel Smith on the seat, and served together with his uncle, George Smith. He was succeeded by another of his uncles, Samuel Smith, the father of his predecessor, in 1820. He was then elected MP for Buckinghamshire, succeeding William Selby Lowndes, and serving with the Marquess of Chandos. He was succeeded by John Smith, another uncle, in 1831. The same year, he was elected MP for Wycombe, succeeding Sir John Dashwood King, 4th Bt, and serving with, in turn, Sir Thomas Baring, 2nd Bt (until 1832), Charles Grey (1832–1837) and George Dashwood, later 5th Bt (from 1837) – the latter being the son of Smith's predecessor on the seat. After his father's death in 1838, and on his inheritance of the barony, he was succeeded on the Wycombe seat by his first cousin, George Robert Smith. He was elected to the Royal Society as a Fellow in 1839. Later that year he adopted the name Carrington by Royal Licence. He held the honorary title of Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire from 1838 until his death in 1868.

He married twice, firstly, in 1822, the Hon. Elizabeth Katherine Weld Forester (1803–1832), daughter of Cecil Weld Forester, 1st Baron Forester, and Lady Katherine Mary Manners. They had one daughter. After the death of his first wife (from cholera), he married, secondly, in 1840, the Hon. Charlotte Augusta Annabella Drummond Willoughby (1815–1879), daughter of Peter Drummond Burrell, 22nd Baron Willoughby de Eresby, and Lady Sarah Clementina Drummond. They had three sons and two daughters.

Life span Marriage(s) Notes by Elizabeth Katherine Weld Forester Hon. Cecile Katherine Mary Carrington died 1907 Married Charles Colville, 10th Lord Colville of Culross (later created Viscount Colville of Culross), son of General Sir Charles Colville and Jane Mure; had issue. by Charlotte Augusta Annabella Drummond Willoughby Hon. Augusta Clementina Carrington 1841–1922 Married Archibald Campbell (later 1st Baron Blythswood), son of Archibald Campbell and Caroline Dick; no issue. Hon. Charles Robert Carrington,later 3rd Baron Carrington 1843–1928 Married Hon. Cecilia Harbord, daughter of Charles Harbord, 5th Baron Suffield, and Cecilia Baring; had issue. Was created Earl Carrington in 1905 and Marquess of Lincolnshire in 1912. [[William Carington 1845–1914 Married Julia Warden, daughter of Francis Warden; no issue. Hon. Eva Elizabeth Carrington 1847–1919 Married Charles Stanhope, Viscount Petersham (later 8th Earl of Harrington), son of Charles Stanhope, 7th Earl of Harrington, and Elizabeth Still de Pearsall; no issue. Hon. Rupert Clement George Carrington,later 4th Baron Carrington 1852–1929 Married Edith Horsefall, daughter of John Horsefall; had issue. Inherited the barony from his older brother, who died without surviving male issue.

Among Carrington's descendants through his first daughter Cecile were his grandson Admiral Sir Stanley Colville and his great grandson Sir John "Jock" Colville (nephew of the Admiral), civil servant and diarist. Harry Legge Bourke, MP for Isle of Ely 1945–1973, was his great grandson through his first son Charles. Another great grandson, through Carrington's third son Rupert, was Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, a Conservative politician who served as Foreign Secretary in the Cabinet of Margaret Thatcher from 1979 to 1982. Lord Carrington was also a descendant in the Colville line; his father, the 5th Baron, married the Hon. Sybil Marion Colville, daughter of the 2nd Viscount Colville of Culross (Admiral Colville's elder brother).