Charles Gerard, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield was an English peer, soldier and Member of Parliament.
Background
He was born in France, the eldest son of Charles, 1st Baron Gerard of Brandon, and Jeanne, the daughter of Pierre de Civelle, equerry to Queen Henrietta Maria. Like his father Charles, the 1st Earl, he was involved in the intrigues of the Duke of Monmouth.
Career
He became an English national by Acting of Parliament in 1677. By 1678 he was a Lieutenant-Colonel in Lord Gerard"s Horse and a full colonel in 1679. He was Custos Rotulorum for Lancashire from 1689 until his death in 1701.
Having become a major-general in 1694, Macclesfield saw some service abroad, and in 1701 he was selected first commissioner for the investiture of the elector of Hanover (afterwards King George I) with the order of the Garter, on which occasion he also was charged to present a copy of the Acting of Settlement to the dowager electress Sophia.
He died suddenly on 5 November 1701 at about 40 years old, leaving no legitimate children. The countess was the mother of two children who were known by the name of Savage, and whose reputed father was Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers.
The poet Richard Savage claimed that he was the younger of these children. The divorced countess married Colonel Henry Brett about the year 1700, and died at the age of eighty-five in 1753.
On his death Macclesfield left most of his estate to Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun.
In 1691 Mohun had married Charlotte Orby, a granddaughter of Charles, 1st Earl of Macclesfield. Although they were soon separated, in 1694 Mohun had accompanied Macclesfield on the Brest expedition. lieutenant seems that Macclesfield preferred Mohun, a former captain of horse in his regiment, over Hamilton whom he disliked because of his Tory sympathies.
Hamilton challenged Mohun through the courts.
After over a decade of legal dispute the pair fought their famous duel in Hyde Park, which resulted in the deaths of both mentor
Politics
That year he entered politics, being elected knight of the shire for Lancashire in both March and October, and again in 1681. In 1685 he was sentenced to death for being a party to the Rye House Plot, but was pardoned by Charles World War II
Membership
Exclusion Bill Parliament. Habeas Corpus Parliament]
In 1689 he was re-elected Member of Parliament for Lancashire, which he represented till 1694, when he succeeded to his father"s peerage.