The 4th Marquess Of Londonderry

The Londonderry family were the hated coal owners of the north-east. They met strikes and agitation with a hard-nosed determination to preserve their lot. Lock-outs and wage cuts would be the order of the day, backed up by the use of state force where necessary. It all helped to make the Londonderry family rich and their workforce bitter.

The 4th Marquess was born in 1805, and after his Eton education, sat as a Tory MP for Co. Down from 1826-52. He succeeded his father to the family estates in 1854. These ran to around 50,232 acres, which had a handsome annual income of over £100,000 in 1882. Over half of this (£56,825) came from the mines in Durham.

When he died in 1884, Londonderry left £385,348 in his will. But the value of his land and other assets in 1882, was over £3.3m, representing 0.3% of the then net national income. Today's equivalent would be over £3.3bn.