Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, (born Charles William Stewart; 1778–1854), was an Anglo-Irish nobleman, a British soldier and a politician. He served in the French Revolutionary Wars, in the suppression of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and in the Napoleonic wars. He excelled as a cavalry commander in the Peninsular War (1807–1814) under John Moore and Arthur Wellesley (became Wellington in 1809). On resigning from his post under Wellington in 1812, his half-brother Lord Castlereagh helped him to launch a diplomatic career. He was posted to Berlin in 1813, and then as ambassador to Austria, where his half-brother was the British plenipotentiary at the Congress of Vienna. He married Lady Catherine Bligh in 1804 and then, in 1819, Lady Frances Anne Vane, a rich heiress, changing his surname to hers, thus becoming Charles Vane instead of Charles Stewart. In 1822 he succeeded his half-brother as 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, inheriting estates in the north of Ireland where, as an unyielding landlord, his reputation suffered in the Great Famine. It was a reputation he matched as a coal operator on his wife's land in County Durham. In opposition to the Mines and Collieries Act of 1842, he insisted on his right to use child labour. Birth and origins Charles was born on 18 May 1778 in Dublin as the second son of Robert Stewart and the first son by his second wife Frances Pratt. His father's family was Ulster-Scots and Presbyterian. His father was then a wealthy member of the Irish landed gentry but would later be created a Marquess. Charles's mother was English, a daughter of Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, a leading English jurist. His parents had married on 7 June 1775. Charles was brought up as an Anglican, a member of the Church of Ireland. Charles had a half-brother from his father's first marriage: Robert (1769–1822), known as "Castlereagh", who became a famous statesman. This half-brother played an important role in his life. In addition Charles had 11 full siblings, who are listed in his father's article. Early life and parliamentary career In 1789, when he was 11, his father, Robert Stewart, was created Baron Londonderry. On 3 April 1791, at the age of 12, Charles Stewart entered the British Army as an ensign in the 108th Regiment. He was commissioned a lieutenant on 8 January 1793 in this same unit. He saw service in 1794