The Earl of Dunraven married, in 1869, Florence, second daughter of Lord and Lady Charles Lennox Kerr, by whom he has had issue three daughters. His seats are Kenry House, Putney Vale; Adare Manor, Limerick; and Dunraven Castle, Glamorganshire.

ROBERT RICHARDSON-GARDNER, M.P., F.S.A.

'THE Colonel "-as he is affectionately called by his constituents of the Royal Borough of Windsor-is a prominent figure of contemporary society. Of commanding and dignified presence; not a suspicion of a shred of pride; possessing a keen insight into human character; and gifted with an independence of spirit which is idiosyncratic rather of early Greece than of the public life of the XIXth century, Richardson-Gardner is, as he has been called to the writer, "one of the most popular men in Berkshire aud Gloucestershire."

Robert Richardson-Gardner (at the time of his nativity Robert Richardson) is the son of the late John Richardson, Esq., of Swansea. He was born in 1827, and after a successful educational course, was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple, in 1853, but did not practise. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a DeputyLieutenant of the Tower Hamlets.

We have spoken of Mr. Richardson-Gardner as "the Colonel," although it is a title which his inherent perception of the fitness of things on his retirement from his command in the Volunteer force, has caused him to voluntarily abandon. That he not only was originally, but is even now, entitled to use this prefix the few following lines may demonstrate; and a glance at the handsome, imposing, and vigorous figure would almost lead one to dub him as Goliath was dubbed by Saul (when the king was rebuking David for his apparent temerity), " a man of war from his youth." Those who remember anything, or, to put it better, who are anxious to learn anything, of the inception of the Volunteer Movement may be interested to know that the

honourable gentleman who forms the subject of this memoir was one of the first volunteers who was enrolled in Hampshire. The historical banquet given by the late Napoleon III. to the French colonels (friendly as the Emperor himself was to England), seemed to inspire his guests with a special bitterness to this country, and their rancoured cries of Perfide Albion even now seem to re-echo across the vista of two decades. With rare sagacity, Mr. Richardson-Gardner discovered, if not an absolute danger of their so doing, at any rate an inclination on the part of the French officers to invade the shores of England, and “the Colonel " at once went to the Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, suggesting the expediency of organizing a volunteer corps. Without going into detail, this was done, and in less than three months (Mr. Richardson-Gardner knew nothing of military drill before) he was fit to take charge of a company, whilst three months after that, he was promoted to the rank of colonel-commandant.

There is an anecdote told by an eye-witness of a review held in Hampshire twenty years ago, which fully proves that had it not been for Colonel Richardson-Gardner's acute perception and rare presence of mind a military blunder would have been perpetrated which would have been, not only of a ludicrous character, but calculated to bring the (then) experiment into disrepute. The Inspector General of Division from the Horse Guards, together with Mr. Richardson-Gardner (colonel-commandant) and a brilliant gathering of officers, were stationed at the saluting point; the regiment being composed of volunteers from Hants, Berks, and other counties. At the end of the ground there was a deep, dry ditch, but it was so placed that the officer commanding the leading company, by telling the troops to wheel round at the proper distance, would have escaped this yawning chasm. As it happened, he let them march on, and, had it not have been for what took place afterwards, when his order came to "left wheel," fully half the men of the first flank would have found themselves in the ditch. But Colonel Richardson-Gardner had anxiously watched the whole progress of the troops, and instantly perceived the mistake the younger officer had made. In a stentorian voice, and much to the consternation of the officer in question, he shouted "BATTALION, HALT," and, riding up to the former, he explained the error into which he had fallen by allowing the men to

so overshoot the wheeling point. "Good G-d," he replied, "I see it." Mr. Richardson-Gardner then right-aboutfaced the volunteers, and getting them back to the distance which would enable them to clear this bete noir of the day, faced them again, when the review terminated with no further hitch. Colonel Richardson-Gardner was warmly congratulated by the military critic who had, of course, seen (1) the threatened disaster, and (2) how it had been averted.

Continuing our memoir of Colonel Richardson-Gardner (with respect to that part of his career which is associated more immediately with the Volunteer movement), it may interest our readers to know that that veteran-volunteer, Lord Ranelagh, with the co-operation of Mr. RichardsonGardner, are the originators of the Sham Fights on Easter Monday at Brighton. (At the period of which we are writing Sham Fights and not merely Reviews were held.) Lord Ranelagh and Mr. Richardson-Gardner, with a view to selecting a locale for the purpose (the latter at the former's invitation), took train for Brighton, and, on their arrival, went scientifically over the Downs. Lord Ranelagh was not long in discovering that no more suitable situation could be found for the object desired, and the two returned to London much pleased with the result of their visit. The next question was as to the date of the proposed Sham Fight, and it was then and there fixed for the ensuing Easter Monday, Mr. Richardson-Gardner consenting (at the earnest request of Lord Ranelagh) to leave the command of his own regiment to a subordinate officer, so that he himself could act as his lordship's aide-de-camp. It was thus that the first Brighton Sham Fight was projected, and, although on a smaller scale than succeeding battles, all who know anything about that early Brighton display are unanimous in saying that it has never been surpassed. The opposing forces were composed entirely of volunteers, no regular troops being on the ground; and by skilful generalship, the hearty co-operation of all concerned, and the perfect esprit de corps which prevailed, the success of the day was ensured. A little incident which is connected with the subject of our sketch may, perhaps, be recorded. Lord Ranelagh, passing the word to retire the artillery, Colonel Richardson-Gardner, as aide-de-camp, rode up to give the command. On galloping back to Lord Ranelagh, by some unaccountable accident the works of Richardson-Gardner's

watch escaped from their cases, and, much to the Colonel's astonishment, on looking down, he saw the empty case hanging by the guard. To find the works was then a practical impossibility, and, on arriving at where Lord Ranelagh was, in order to report, Mr. Richardson-Gardner exclaimed, "My lord, I have retired the artillery, and my watch at the same time."

Finding that the pressure of Parliamentary and other duties prevented his giving so much time to the volunteer service as he thought it demanded from a colonel of a regiment, Mr. Richardson-Gardner declined the post of colonel of the Tower Hamlets' Rifles. He had considerable pressure brought to bear upon him, however, and he eventually consented to become their Honorary-Colonel.

As a sportsman, Mr. Richardson-Gardner is very wellknown. He instituted and kept a pack of staghounds at his own expense in Gloucestershire, turning out in first-rate style over the Cotswold Hills, near his country seat. Having met with a severe accident in the hunting field, he has abandoned hunting his own hounds, but looks back with much pleasure to his exploits in this direction.

In 1866 a deputation from Windsor waited upon Mr. Richardson-Gardner requesting him to contest the Royal Borough in conjunction with Sir Henry Drummond Wolff, in the Conservative interest, against the then sitting Members, Messrs. Eykyn and Edwards (Liberals). The Colonel consented on the understanding that if they found they should be hopelessly beaten they would retire from the contest. It should be explained that their opponents had been a week in possession of the place prior to the advent of Mr. Richardson-Gardner and his colleague, so that the Liberal brace of candidates had it all their own way. In the end Mr. Richardson-Gardner and Sir Henry retired accordingly, not going to the poll. Windsor was eventually deprived of one of her Members through the passing of the Parliamentary Boroughs Act, and in 1868 the subject of our sketch again fought Mr. Eykyn, the sitting Member, for the single seat, which he had a narrow escape of securing. He was beaten by only eight votes. At the General Election in 1874, Mr. Richardson-Gardner contested the Royal Borough of Windsor for the third time, again fighting Mr. Eykyn. The third time (which is proverbially lucky) turned out luckily for Richardson-Gardner, and Mr. Eykyn had the

grim necessity thrust upon him of perusing the officer's return which disclosed this state of figures:

"Colonel R. Richardson-Gardner

Roger Eykyn

...

1,064

This showed a clear majority for Richardson-Gardner of four hundred and forty-six votes.

Perhaps the most crucial contest of all was that at the General Election of last year (1880). In addition to the Liberal reaction which had almost everywhere unsettled Conservative constituencies, Mr. Richardson-Gardner was confronted with an opponent at Windsor of the most formidable character in the person of Mr. Victor Van de Weyer. This gentleman was the son of the late Belgian Minister, and possessed an amount of local and other influence which it would be difficult to estimate. His family had a country seat in the immediate neighbourhood of Windsor, and from other special circumstances Mr. Victor Van de Weyer was the very strongest political opponent that could be brought against Mr. Richardson-Gardner.

The latter, however, was once more victorious, the numbers at the close of the poll being respectively, RichardsonGardner, 995; and Van de Weyer, 824, giving a majority to the honourable and gallant gentleman of one hundred and seventy-one votes. But so great was the havoc among even the Conservative strongholds, that when RichardsonGardner walked into the Carlton Club after the election was over, the Members exclaimed with delighted enthusiasm, "Well, here is one who is saved from the shipwreck!" The constituency,of course, returned Mr. Richardson-Gardner as a supporter of the Conservative Party. But his action has ever been independent. With a mind infinitely superior to the trivialities of smaller politicians, Mr. RichardsonGardner has ere now been accused of not taking a "living interest"-whatever that may mean-in the political problems of our time. The explanation of any apparent want of attention is to be found in the fact that there is nothing of the "meddler" in Mr. Richardson-Gardner, but, on the contrary, there is a great deal of the statesman. As has been well remarked, "those M.P.'s who are always in their places and who are religiously present at every division, generally want something" (either in the way of office or other advantage). Colonel Richardson-Gardner is beyond these influences; and, moreover, having an intuitive perception of what really is of Parliamentary importance, and