Malmesbury, James Howard Harris, 3rd Earl of

STATESMAN (ENGLAND)
BORN 25 Mar 1807, London - DIED 17 May 1889
GRAVE LOCATION Christchurch, Dorset: Priory Church, Quay Road

James Howard Harris was the son of the 2nd Earl of Malmesbury. His mother was Harriet Susan Dashwood. On 13 April 1830 he married Emma Bennett, the only daughter of the 5th Earl of Tankerville. After he took his degree in 1827 he travelled abroad and in Rome, through Countess Guiccioli, he met queen Hortense and her son Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1829 he returned to England.

He was a friend of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte when the latter lived in England. In 1845 he visited him when Louis was imprisoned in Ham. In March 1852 he became Foreign Secretary under Lord Derby and he recognized Louis Napoleon as emperor. In December 1852 he had to resign when Lord Aberdeen formed a government. In March 1858 he was restored as Foreign Secretary until April 1859. Between 1866 and 1868 he was Lord Privy Seal under Lord Derby and he held the same position from 1874 to 1876.

On 17 May 1876 his wife Emma died and he married Susan Hamilton (d.1935) on 01/11/1880. In 1884 he published "Memoires of an Ex-Minister", in which he described his visit to Louis Napoleon two at Chislehurst two days after the former emperor was released from Germany.

Related persons
• has a connection with Montez, Lola
• was a friend of Napoleon III Bonaparte

Events
27/5/1846Louis Napoleon Bonaparte arrives in London. He had escaped at 6 AM the previous day from the fortress of Ham and had crossed the Channel under the name of Comte d'Arenenberg. The same day he met his friend Lord Malmesbury in London. They dined together and when Malmesbury noticed Louis de Noailles from the French embassy he asked him 'Do you know who this is? Louis Napoleon, he has just escaped'. De Noailles ran away because he wasn't yet aware of the fact. Malmesbury claimed that he had never seen a man looking so scared. [Napoleon III Bonaparte]
19/5/1869Malmesbury dines with Napoleon III at the Tuilleries. They had a private conversation in which Louis Napoleon told Malmesbury that 50,000 members of the military had voted against him and 300,000 in faovur of him. Malmesbury reacted surprised because he had thought that the French army was twice as big. [Napoleon III Bonaparte]
21/3/1871Malmesbury visits the former Napoleon III at Chislehurst. Napoleon III had been freed from imprisonment in Germany two days before. [Napoleon III Bonaparte]

Images

The grave monument for James Howard Harris, Earl of Malmesbury at Christchurch Priory, Christchurch.
Picture by Androom (01 Jul 2017)

 

The grave monument for James Howard Harris, Earl of Malmesbury at Christchurch Priory, Christchurch.
Picture by Androom (01 Jul 2017)

 

Sources
• Thompson, J.M., Louis Napoleon and the Second Empire, Norton, New York, 1967
Winkler Prins Encyclopedie (editie 1909), 1909
Dictionary of National Biography - Wikisource, the free online library
Harris - Wikisource, the free online library


Malten, Therese

Published: 27 Dec 2020
Last update: 25 Apr 2022