Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry

The Most Honourable The Marquess of Londonderry KG MVO PC PC
The Marquess, c.1921
First Commissioner of Works
In office 18 October 1928 – 4 June 1929
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Stanley Baldwin
Preceded by	The Viscount Peel
Succeeded by	George Lansbury
In office 25 August 1931 – 5 November 1931
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by	George Lansbury
Succeeded by	Hon. William Ormsby-Gore
Secretary of State for Air
In office 5 November 1931 – 7 June 1935
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by	The Lord Amulree
Succeeded by	The Viscount Swinton
Leader of the House of Lords
In office 7 June 1935 – 22 November 1935
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Stanley Baldwin
Preceded by	The Viscount Hailsham
Succeeded by	The Viscount Halifax
Lord Privy Seal
In office 7 June 1935 – 22 November 1935
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Stanley Baldwin
Preceded by	Anthony Eden
Succeeded by	The Viscount Halifax
Personal details
Born	13 May 1878 (1878-05-13)
Died	10 February 1949 (1949-02-11) (aged 70) Mount Stewart, County Down
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative Ulster Unionist
Spouse(s)	Hon. Edith Chaplin (m. 1899; his death 1949)
Children	Lady Maureen Vane-Tempest-Stewart Robin Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 8th Marquess of Londonderry Lady Margaret Vane-Tempest-Stewart Lady Helen Vane-Tempest-Stewart Lady Mairi Vane-Tempest-Stewart
Alma mater	Royal Military College, Sandhurst
Religion	Anglican

Charles Stewart Henry Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry KG MVO PC PC (13 May 1878 – 10 February 1949), styled Lord Stewart until 1884 and Viscount Castlereagh between 1884 and 1915, was a British peer known for his political career in Britain. He is best remembered for his tenure as Secretary of State for Air in the 1930s and for his praise of Nazi Germany in the 1930s. He was forced out of the government in 1935 and never returned. His main record at the Air Ministry included:

The eldest son of Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 6th Marquess of Londonderry, and Lady Theresa Susey Helen, daughter of Charles John Chetwynd-Talbot, 19th Earl of Shrewsbury, he was educated at Eton College and at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

On 22 May 1895, Lord Castlereagh was appointed a second lieutenant in the 2nd Durham (Seaham) Artillery Volunteer Corps (later the 1st Durham Volunteer Artillery), at the time a volunteer corps within the Volunteer Force and attached to the Royal Garrison Artillery (Western Division). After passing out from Sandhurst, he was commissioned into the Royal Horse Guards as a second lieutenant on 8 September 1897. He was promoted lieutenant on 30 August 1899, and appointed adjutant on 9 May 1900.

In early 1901 he was appointed by King Edward to take part in a special diplomatic mission to announce the King's accession to the governments of Austria-Hungary, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey. In August 1903, following the King's visit to Ireland, he was appointed a Member Fourth Class (present-day Lieutenant) of the Royal Victorian Order, his father being honoured with the Knight Grand Cross of the Order at the same time. He resigned his position of adjutant in the Royal Horse Guards on 24 March 1904, and was promoted to captain on 6 April.