Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Yorke, Albert Edward Philip Henry
YORKE, ALBERT EDWARD PHILIP HENRY, sixth Earl of Hardwicke (1867–1904), under-secretary of state for war, the only son of Charles Philip, fifth earl, by his wife Lady Sophia Wellesley, daughter of the first Earl Cowley, was born on 14 March 1867. The Prince of Wales, afterwards King Edward VII, was his godfather. Educated at Eton, he served as hon. attaché to the British embassy at Vienna from 1886 to 1891. In the following year he became a member of the London Stock Exchange, and, in 1897, a partner in the firm of Basil Montgomery & Co. In the same year he succeeded his father in the earldom. On 8 Feb. 1898 Hardwicke moved the address in the House of Lords, and his graceful speech favourably impressed Lord Salisbury. In that year he became an active member of the London County Council, representing West Marylebone as a moderate. In June 1900 he carried a motion condemning the erection of the statue of Cromwell in the precincts of the house (Lucy, Diary of the Unionist Parliament, pp. 366, seq.). In November 1900 he was offered by Lord Salisbury the under-secretaryship for India. Hardwicke accepted the appointment on condition that he should not take up his duties until the following year, by which time arrangements could be made for his becoming a sleeping partner in his firm. In the debate on the address, however, Lord Rosebery, wishing to assert a public principle, while styling Hardwicke ‘the most promising member for his age in the House of Lords,’ animadverted on his connection with the Stock Exchange (4 Dec.). Eight days afterwards Hardwicke gave a manly and spirited explanation, setting forth the facts of the case and stating that immediately after Lord Rosebery's attack he had placed his resignation in Lord Salisbury's hands, who declined to accept it (Hansard, 4th series, vol. lxxxviii. cols. 804–806). From the India office he was transferred to the war office as under-secretary in August 1902, and he moved the second reading of the militia and yeomanry bill for creating reserves for those forces. Returning to the India office, again as under-secretary, in the following year, he moved in a lucid speech in 1904 the second reading of the Indian councils bill, setting up a department of commerce and industry (ibid. vol. cxl. cols. 498–502). Those best qualified to form an opinion thought highly of his abilities.
In early life he was a bold rider in steeplechases. In 1898 he became principal proprietor of the ‘Saturday Review.’
Hardwicke, who was a man of much personal charm, died suddenly at his house, 8 York Terrace, Regent's Park, on 29 Nov. 1904. A cartoon portrait by ‘Spy’ appeared in ‘Vanity Fair’ in 1901. He was unmarried, and was succeeded as seventh earl by his uncle, John Manners Yorke, formerly captain R.N., who had served in the Baltic and Crimean expeditions, and who died on 13 March 1909. The present and eighth earl is the eldest son of the seventh earl.
[The Times, 30 Nov. 1904; private information.]