Hugo Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss

Lord Elcho as caricatured by Spy (Leslie Ward) in Vanity Fair, March 1892

He was the fifth but eldest surviving son of The 10th Earl of Wemyss and his wife, Lady Anne Frederica Anson. His sister, Evelyn Charteris, was married to John Vesey, 4th Viscount de Vesci; their only child (Mary Gertrude Vesey) was the second wife of Aubrey Herbert (second son of The 4th Earl of Carnarvon), whose daughter Laura Herbert married the writer Evelyn Waugh and was the mother of Auberon Waugh.[1]

His father was the eldest son, and heir, of The 9th Earl of Wemyss (and 5th Earl of March). His mother was a daughter of Thomas Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield.[2]

He entered Parliament for Haddingtonshire in 1883 (succeeding his father), but lost his seat in the 1885 general election. He returned to the House of Commons in a by-election in 1886 as one of two representatives for Ipswich and held it in the subsequent general election and would continue to hold it until 1895.

Lord and Lady Elcho visited British India to attend the 1903 Delhi Durbar held in January 1903 to celebrated the succession of King Edward VII as Emperor of India.[3]

He succeeded his father in the two earldoms in 1914 and served as Lord-Lieutenant of Haddingtonshire from 1918 to 1937.

Portrait of his wife, and her sisters, The Wyndham Sisters, by John Singer Sargent, 1899 (Metropolitan Museum)

The grave of Hugo, 11th Earl of Wemyss and 7th Earl of March, Aberlady Churchyard

In 1883, he married Mary Constance Wyndham (1862–1937), daughter of Percy Scawen Wyndham and sister of George Wyndham. They were both two of the original members of The Souls. His married life was detailed in the book Those Wild Wyndhams by Claudia Renton.[4] Among their children were:[2]

• Captain Hugo Francis Charteris, Lord Elcho (1884–1916), killed in action during the Great War, whilst serving with the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars. He is commemorated on the Jerusalem Memorial.[5] He married Lady Violet Catherine Manners, the daughter of Henry Manners, 8th Duke of Rutland, in 1911.[2]
• Guy Lawrence Charteris (1886–1967), married Frances Tennant, sister of Kathleen Manners, Duchess of Rutland and they were parents of Ann Fleming, Hugo Charteris and Laura Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough.
• Lady Cynthia Mary Evelyn Charteris (1887–1960), a writer who married Herbert Asquith (1881–1947), son of Prime Minister H. H. Asquith.[2]
• Colin Charteris (1889–1892), who died young.[2]
• Lady Mary Pamela Madeline Sibell Charteris (1895–1991), who married Capt. Algernon Walter Strickland (1891–1938), son of Algernon Henry Peter Strickland, in 1915. After his death, she married Maj. John George Lyon, son of John Stewart Lyon, 4th of Kirkmichael, in 1943.[2]
• Second Lieutenant Yvo Alan Charteris (1896–1915), also killed in action during the Great War, whilst serving with 1st Bn. Grenadier Guards. He is buried in Sailly-Labourse Communal Cemetery, five kilometers southeast of Bethune.[6]
• Lady Irene Corona Charteris (1902–1989), who married Ivor Windsor-Clive, 2nd Earl of Plymouth (1889–1943).[2]

By 1912, Lady Angela Forbes was his mistress, sharing his house in East Lothian, while his wife lived at Stanway in Gloucestershire.[7][8] Although he and his mistress lived together for many years, he remained married, and his wife became Countess of Wemyss when he inherited the earldom. She died in April 1937, aged 74.[9] Lord Wemyss survived her by three months and died in July of the same year, aged 79. He is buried in the family burial enclosure on the north side of Aberlady churchyard.

• Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
• Lundy, Darryl. "FAQ". The Peerage.

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Wemyss