WL in correspondence with Jim Morgan and PB, November 2017.
[PB: I have added in square brackets a persons relationship from EVT's POV. e.g. "[grandfather]". However, this needs checking, especially the Stewarts, which I think I've got wrong. I have also added links e.g. to Wikipedia articles, and a section on "Hambletonian".]
Maternal side
The name
VANE originates with the Reverend Sir Henry Vane, 1st Baronet [1728-1794] [great-grandfather], the son of George Vane and Anne Machon.The name TEMPEST comes from Sir Henry's wife, Frances Tempest (17__- 1796) [great-grandmother], the daughter of John Tempest and Frances Shuttleworth.
These were our Ernie's great grandparents. This couple had two children:
- Frances Anne Vane. [PB: Is she now ignored below?]
- Sir Henry Vane-Tempest, 2nd Baronet (1771-1813) [grandfather],
Sir Henry Vane-Tempest 2nd Baronet married Anne Katherine MacDonnell, Countess of Antrim [grandmother].
[PB: Hence EVT's middle name.]
[PB: Was AKM an only child, hence she inherited?]
The 2nd Baronet was born Henry Vane, but his name was legally changed to Henry Vane-Tempest [date?] on the terms of his uncle's will under which he inherited the Brancepeth Castle, Old Durham and Wynyard properties.
This couple only had one daughter, so the Baronetcy became extinct after the 2nd Baronet. This was:
Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane-Tempest [18[00] - 1865] [mother].
So Lady FAE Vane-Tempest would have been your typical rich heiress from a Jane Austen novel, hence the importance of retaining her name down the generations I suspect.
George Stubbs, "Hambletonian, Rubbing Down" (1799-1800). National Trust Collection, Mount Stewart.
HVT, a well-known "sportsman" of his day, is chiefly remembered for his role in commissioning George Stubbs to paint Hambletonian", HTV's most successful racehorse. This very large painting has been called Stubbs's "finest achievement" and his "masterpiece". The relationship became acrimonious: Stubbs had to take HVT to court to secure payment. Hambletonian is buried under an oak tree in Wynyard Park. The painting is at Mount Stewart.
(Click on image to enlarge)
http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/1220985
https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/hambletonian-rubbing-down-132924
https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/hambletonian-rubbing-down-132935
https://www.spectator.co.uk/2005/05/a-true-portrait/ ["A true portrait: Michael Prodger on possibly the greatest equine picture in the history of art"]
http://www.andrewgrahamdixon.com/archive/itp-163-hambletonian-rubbing-down-by-george-stubbs.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hambletonian_(horse)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3643898/A-thoroughbred-among-painters.html
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/famous-racehorse-portrait-gets-a-new-look-in-estate-restoration-30839500.html
Judy Egerton, George Stubbs, Painter, (Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, 2007).
Paternal side
STEWART originates with Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry [1739-1832] [grandfather], the son of Alexander Stewart and Mary Cowan [great-grandparents].
Robert Stewart married twice:
[1] Lady Sarah Frances Seymour.
- Lady Sarah's father was Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford (accessed 30.11.2017).
This couple had a daughter and a son:
- Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry [1769-1822] [uncle, father's half-brother] - better known as Lord or Viscount Castlereagh.
Castlereagh married but appears to have had no [legitimate] children. After an extrardinary political career, he committed suicide by cutting his throat.
- Wikipedia: Robert Stewart, Viscount Lord Castlereagh (accessed 30.11.2017, this article appeared rich and detailed.)
- BBC: Lord Castlereagh: Europe's forgotten father [documentary cartoon-video]
[2] Robert Stewart's second wife was Lady Frances Pratt.
This couple had 7 daughters and one son, Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry [1778-1854] [father], born Charles William Stewart.
In 1814 he was made Baron Stewart / 1st Lord Stewart of Stewart's Court and Ballylawn.
On 5 May 1821 his name was legally changed [to his wife's surname] Charles William Vane by Royal Licence.
In 1822 became 3rd Marquess of Londonderry and 3rd Viscount Castlereagh and 3rd Earl of Londonderry.
In 1823 became 1st Earl Vane and 1st Viscount Seaham of Seaham.
[PB: So he completely dropped his paternal name "Stewart"? That's quite a big thing, isn't it?]
Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess [father] married twice:
[1] First, Lady Catherine Bligh [17??-1812] [father's first wife]
They had one son:
- Frederick William Robert Stewart, 4th Marquess of Londonderry (1805-1872), 2nd Earl Vane [half-brother].
[PB: What happened to him? I know he spent a lot of time with Castlereagh and his wife while his father, Charles William, was abroad.]
[2] Second, in 1819, Charles William married our heiress, Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane-Tempest [mother]. Together they had seven children [PB: only 6 are listed below - did one die young?]
- George Henry Robert Charles William Vane-Tempest, 5th Marquess of Londonderry, 3rd Earl Vane (1821-1884) [brother].
He was born Vane but changed by Royal Licence in 1851 to Vane-Tempest.
- Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane [sister] - married John Winston Spencer-Churchill 7th Duke of Marlborough [Winston Churchill's grandparents].
- Lady Alexandrina Octavia Maria Vane [sister] - married Henry John Reuben Dawson-Damer, 3rd Earl Portarlington.
- Lord Adolphus Frederick Charles William Vane-Tempest [brother] - born Vane but changed by Royal Licence in 1851 to Vane-Tempest.
- Lady Adelaide Emelina Caroline Vane [sister] - eloped with Rev. Frederick Henry Law, Ernie's tutor and disgraced the family (not that they needed any help).
- LORD ERNEST MCDONNELL VANE-TEMPEST, born Vane but changed by Royal Licence in 1851 to Vane-Tempest.
So for our purposes, at the time he was in the 4LDs, in the Crimea, and in the Civil War, he was Lord Ernest McDonnell Vane-Tempest.
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Thanks to my compatriot Mr Lundy and his brilliant The Peerage website for making things clear.