Page:Dictionary of National Biography. Sup. Vol I (1901).djvu/96

Alfred she collected materials for a history of needlework, which she published in handsome form in 1886 under the title of 'Needlework as Art.' In society, as well as in art circles, Lady Marian Alford was noted for refinement and dignity, and for her powers of conversation. She died at her son's house, Ashridge, Berkhampstead, on 8 Feb. 1888, and was buried at Belton near Grantham. Of her two sons the elder, John William Spencer Brownlow Egerton-Cust, succeeded his grandfather as second Earl Brownlow, and, dying unmarried in 1867, was succeeded by his younger brother, Adelbert Wellington Brownlow Cust, third and present Earl Brownlow.

[Private information and personal knowledge.]  ALFRED ERNEST ALBERT, and  (1844–1900), second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, was born at Windsor Castle on 6 Aug. 1844. In 1856 Lieutenant (afterwards Sir John) Cowell of the royal engineers was appointed his governor, and in October 1857 he was established at Alverbank, a cottage near Gosport, where he was prepared for the navy by the Rev. William Rowe Jolley, a chaplain and naval instructor. It was the wish of the prince consort that the boy should pass the usual entry examination, which he did in August 1858, when he was appointed to the Euryalus, a 50-gun screw frigate, specially commissioned by Captain John Walter Tarleton, well known as a good and careful officer. The Euryalus went in the first instance to the Mediterranean, and afterwards to the Cape of Good Hope and Natal, giving the young prince the opportunity for an excursion into the Orange Free State. On his return to Cape Town he tilted (on 17 Sept. 1860) the first load of stones into the sea for the breakwater in Table Bay. From the Cape the Euryalus went to the West Indies, and returned to England in August 1861. The prince was then appointed to the St. George with Captain the Hon. Francis Egerton for service in the Channel, North America, West Indies, and the Mediterranean, being, by the special desire of his father, treated on board as the other midshipmen; on shore he occasionally took his place as the son of the queen. It was not, however, considered necessary, or indeed advisable, to subject him to the prescribed limits of age and service.

In the winter of 1862-3 a prospect of securing a foreign throne was suddenly presented to Prince Alfred, and as suddenly withdrawn. The citizens of the kingdom of Greece, having deprived their despotic king, Otho, of the crown, marked their confidence in England by bestowing the dignity on the queen of England's second son by an overwhelming majority of votes, cast on an appeal to universal suffrage (6-15 Dec. 1862). The total number of votes given was 241,202; of these Prince Alfred received 230,016. His election, which was hailed throughout Greece with unqualified enthusiasm, was ratified by the National Assembly (3 Feb. 1863). The queen was not averse to Prince Alfred's acceptance of the honour, but Lord Palmerston, the prime minister, with Earl Russell, the foreign secretary, knew that the proposal contravened an arrangement already entered into with Russia and France, whereby no prince of any of these countries could ascend the throne of Greece. Accordingly, the crown was refused. At Lord Russell's suggestion, however, negotiations were opened with Prince Alfred's uncle, Duke Ernest of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, with a view to his filling the vacant office, but it was deemed essential that Duke Ernest, who was childless, should, if he assented, renounce at once his duchy of Saxe-Coburg in favour of his nephew, Prince Alfred. This condition Duke Ernest and his council declined to entertain, and the Greek throne was finally accepted (30 March 1863) by (William) George, second son of Prince Christian of Sleswig-Holstein-Glücksburg, who, in accordance with an earlier treaty, soon became king of Denmark (15 Nov. 1863). Meanwhile Alexandra, the sister of the, newly chosen king of Greece and daughter of Prince Christian, married, on 10 March 1863, Prince Alfred's brother, the Prince of Wales. One result of these transactions was the formal execution by the Prince of Wales, who was the next heir to his uncle Ernest of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in the succession to the throne of that duchy, of a deed of renunciation, which transferred his title in the duchy to Alfred, his next brother (19 April 1863). After more than thirty years the deed took effect (, Memoirs, p. 567;, Memoirs, iv. 85-90 ; , History of Greece, vii. 289 seq.)

Meanwhile, Prince Alfred steadily pursued his career in the British navy. On 24 Feb. 1863 he was promoted to be lieutenant of the Racoon with Captain Count Gleichen [see, Suppl.] In her he continued for three years, and on 23 Feb. 1866 he was promoted to be captain (passing over the intermediate rank of commander). At the same time he was granted by 