George Lambton, 2nd Earl Of Durham

George Frederick D'Arcy Lambton, 2nd Earl of Durham, was born on 5 September 1828 at Copse Hill, Wimbledon. He was baptized at St Mary's Church in Wimbledon on 29 September 1828. He was the second son of John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, and Lady Louisa Elizabeth Grey, his second wife. His mother was a daughter of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey. Lambton was known by his third given name, D'Arcy, which was the maiden name of an ancestor associated with land around what would later become Lambton Castle.

He had an elder half-sister, Lady Frances Charlotte Lambton, from his father's first marriage to Harriet Cholmondeley, the illegitimate daughter of George Cholmondeley, 1st Marquess of Cholmondeley. Lady Charlotte married John Ponsonby, 5th Earl of Bessborough.

In 1840, at the age of 11, Lambton inherited the earldom of Durham upon the death of his father, who served as British Ambassador to Russia and Governor-General of Canada. His mother died from a severe cold approximately thirteen months later.

Lambton attended Trinity College, Cambridge, beginning in 1846.

In terms of public service, he served as Lord-Lieutenant of County Durham from 1854 until 1879. In 1877, he signed a document consenting to the transfer of an acre of his land for the construction of a church in the parish of Fatfield. The church, St George's in Washington, was completed in 1879 and built in the Early English Gothic style.

On 23 May 1854, Lambton married Lady Beatrix Frances Hamilton at St George's, Hanover Square. Lady Beatrix was the second daughter of James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn, and Lady Louisa Jane Russell, a daughter of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford. The marriage produced thirteen children:

- John George Lambton, 3rd Earl of Durham (1855–1928), married Ethel Elizabeth Louisa Milner and had issue.

- Frederick William Lambton, 4th Earl of Durham (1855–1929), married Beatrix Bulteel.

- Admiral Hon. Sir Hedworth Lambton (later Meux) (1856–1929), married Hon. Mildred Cecilia Harriet, with no issue.

- Hon. Charles Lambton (1857–1949), married Lavinia Marion Garforth.

- Lady Beatrix Louisa Lambton (1859–1944), married Sidney Herbert, 14th Earl of Pembroke.

- Hon. George Lambton (1860–1945), married Cicely Margaret Horner.

- Lady Katherine Frances Lambton (1862–1952), married George Osborne, 10th Duke of Leeds.

- Major-General Hon. Sir William Lambton (1863–1936), married Lady Katherine de Vere Somerset; no issue.

- Hon. Claud Lambton (1865–1945), married Lettice Wormald.

- Captain Hon. D'Arcy Lambton of the Royal Navy (1866–1954), married Florence Ethel Sproule.

- Lady Eleanor Lambton (1868–1959), married Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood.

- Lady Anne Lambton (1869–1922).

- Hon. Francis Lambton (1871–1914), killed in action during World War I.

Lady Beatrix died on 21 January 1871 at the age of 35, three days after giving birth to her youngest child. In 1876, Lord Durham underwent the removal of his right eye after being shot by his son Charles during a shooting party. He passed away on 27 November 1879 at his town house on Hill Street in Mayfair, at the age of 51. He was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest twin son, John.

The Earl, the Countess, and some of their children are buried in St Barnabas' Church, Bournmoor, which the Earl had constructed at his own expense when the local parish was established in 1867.