Yorke, Charles Philip, 4th Earl of Hardwicke (1799 -1873)

Charles Hardwicke was the eldest son of Admiral Sir Joseph Sydney Yorke, second son of Charles Yorke, Lord Chancellor, by his second wife, Agneta Johnson. He was educated at Harrow and at the Royal Naval College. He entered the Royal Navy in May 1815 as midshipman, rapidly rising through the ranks and becoming Captain by 1825. Lord Hardwicke married the Honourable Susan Liddell, sixth daughter of Thomas Liddell, 1st Baron Ravensworth, in August 1833. They had five sons and three daughters. On the death of his uncle in 1834, he became the 4th Earl of Hardwicke, and inherited the large Wimpole estate in Cambridgeshire. In political life he was a member of Lord Derby's cabinet in 1852 as Postmaster General and as Lord Privy Seal between 1858 and 1859. In 1858 he retired from the active list with the rank of rear-admiral, becoming vice-admiral in the same year, and admiral in 1863. Retirement from the Royal Navy followed in 1870. On his death in September 1873, he was succeeded to the title of 5th Earl by his eldest son, Charles.