Hugo Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss

Who was Hugo Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss?

Hugo Richard Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss and 7th Earl of March DL, styled Lord Elcho from 1883 to 1914, was a Scottish Conservative politician.

Wemyss and March was the fifth but eldest surviving son of Francis Charteris, 10th Earl of Wemyss, and his wife Lady Anne Frederica, daughter of Thomas Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield. He entered Parliament for Haddingtonshire in 1883, but lost his seat in the 1885 general election. He returned to the House of Commons in the 1886 general election as one of two representatives for Ipswich, a seat he held until 1895. He succeeded his father in the two earldoms in 1914 and served as Lord-Lieutenant of Haddingtonshire from 1918 to 1937.

Lord Wemyss and March married Mary Constance, daughter of the Hon. Percy Scawen Wyndham and sister of George Wyndham, in 1883. They were both two of the original members of The Souls. Their eldest daughter Lady Cynthia married Herbert Asquith and became a well-known writer. The Countess of Wemyss and March died in April 1937, aged 74. Lord Wemyss and March only survived her by three months and died in July of the same year, aged 79. He was succeeded in his titles by his grandson David, his eldest son Captain Hugo Francis Charteris, Lord Elcho, having been killed in action in the First World War. The latter's second son was Martin Charteris, Baron Charteris of Amisfield. His grandson, Hugo Charteris, was a renowned post war, author and screenwriter. He is the great-grandfather of the Scottish cartoonist Jamie Charteris.