SPENCER, JOHN CHARLES SPENCER, 3RD EARL (1782-1845), English statesman, better known by the courtesy title of Lord Althorp, which he bore during his father's lifetime, was the son of George John, 2nd Earl (1758-1834), who served in the ministries of Pitt, Fox and Grenville, and was first lord of the admiralty from 1794-1801. John Charles was born at Spencer House, London, on May 3o, 1782, and was educated at Trinity college, Cambridge. He represented Okehampton (1804), St. Albans (1806) and Northamptonshire (1806). When Lord Grey's administration was formed at the close of 1830 the chancellor ship of the exchequer combined with the leadership of the House of Commons was entrusted to Lord Althorp. The budget was a failure, but this misfortune was soon forgotten in the struggles over the Reform bill, in the preparation and success of which Lord Althorp played an important part.
The death of the 2nd Earl Spencer in Nov. 1834, called his son to the upper house and was the occasion of Melbourne's dis missal by King William IV. He was the first president of the Royal Agricultural Society (founded 1838), and a notable cattle-breeder. He died at Wiseton on Oct. I, See Sir Denis Le Marchant, Memoir (1876) ; W. Bagehot, Bio graphical Studies (1881) ; E. J. Myers, Lord Althorp (1890).
SPENCER, JOHN POYNTZ SPENCER, 5th (1835-1910), English statesman, was the son of the 4th Earl and his first wife. Born on Oct. 27, 1835, and educated at Harrow and Trinity college, Cambridge, he was a member of parliament for a few months before he succeeded to the earldom in Dec. 1857. His long career as a Liberal politician dates from his acceptance of the office of lord-lieutenant of Ireland under Glad stone in 1868, a post which he retained until 1874. When the Liberals returned to power in 1880 he was appointed lord presi dent of the council, but in 1882 he entered upon a second term of office as lord-lieutenant of Ireland. In the Liberal adminis tration of 1886 he was lord-president of the council, and from 1892 to 1895 he was first lord of the admiralty. From 1902 to 1905 he was the Liberal leader in the House of Lords, and early in 1905, was discussed as a possible Liberal prime minister. He died on Aug. 13, 1910. The fine library, collected at Althorp by the 2nd earl, was sold by him for £250,000 to Mrs. Rylands, the widow of a Manchester merchant, who presented it to that city.