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Charles Manners-Sutton, (1780-1845) was born at Screveton Hall, Nottinghamshire, son of Charles Manners Sutton, Archbishop of Canterbury and his wife Mary. In 1807 he was Member of Parliament for Scarborough and in 1809 was made Judge Advocate General. On 8th July 1811, he married Lucy Maria Charlotte Denison who died in 1815. He later married Ellen, widow of John Hume Purves who died 16 November 1845. He became speaker of the House of Commons in 1817 at a salary of 6,000 pounds per annum, GCB on 5th September 1833, and was made the First Viscount Canterbury in 1835 when he retired from the House when his re-election failed. He divided his time between Westminster and his home at Holly Lodge, Bergh-Apton in Norfolk. His black ministerial despatch box remained in the family. He died on 21st July 1845, exactly seventeen years to the day after his father, and according to the Manners-Sutton papers is buried in the family vault at St Mary's Addington where there is also a memorial plaque.
The third Viscount Canterbury (1814-1877), governor of Victoria, was born on 21 May 1814 in London and baptized John Henry Thomas, the younger son of Charles Manners-Sutton and his first wife Lucia Maria Charlotte, née Denison. His paternal grandfather was archbishop of Canterbury in 1805-28; his father was eight times speaker of the House of Commons and became Viscount Canterbury in 1835. Like his father, John Henry Thomas was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge (M.A., 1835). He entered Lincoln's Inn in September but soon abandoned law and turned to politics. He was elected to the House of Commons in 1839 but unseated for bribery. He represented Cambridge Borough in 1841-1847, and was under-secretary of the Home Department in Peel's ministry from September 1841 to July 1846. He began his colonial career as lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick in 1854-61 and governor of Trinidad in 1864-66. On 15 August 1866 he was sworn in as governor of Victoria.
After the death of his brother in 1869 Manners-Sutton became the third Viscount Canterbury. His whole governorship was characterized by a deep sense of responsibility. From his speeches and dispatches Canterbury gave little evidence of a colourful or dynamic personality but he was a just and conscientious governor. His popularity in Victoria was well established when he left Melbourne in March 1873. He returned to England, took his seat in the House of Lords. He died in London on 24 June 1877. On 5 July 1838 he had married Georgiana Tomson. One of their seven children, Anna Maria Georgiana, married Charles Edward Bright (who, with brother Reginald and W H Hart founded Bright Bros in Melbourne in 1853) in 1868. On their wedding the city and ships in the bay were decorated and a special train took the couple to their honeymoon at Queenscliff. |
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