Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport (1814-1904)

General Alexander Nelson Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport, 4th Duke of Bronté GCB (23 December 1814-4 June 1904), was a British soldier and courtier.

Bridport was the eldest son of Samuel Hood, 2nd Baron Bridport, and his wife Charlotte Mary, Duchess of Bronté, daughter of William Nelson, 1st Earl Nelson, and niece of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson. Admiral Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, was his great-grandfather and Admiral Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport, his great-great-uncle. He was commissioned into the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1831 and achieved the rank of Captain in 1836, Lieutenant-Colonel in 1847, Colonel in 1854, Major-General in 1862, Lieutenant-General in 1871 and General in 1877. Bridport was also a Groom-in-Waiting from 1841 to 1858, Clerk Marshal to Prince Albert from 1853 to 1861, Equerry to Queen Victoria from 1858 to 1884, a Permanent Lord-in-Waiting to Queen Victoria from 1884 to 1901 and Honorary Equerry to Edward VII from 1901 to 1904 and served as a Deputy Lieutenant of Dorset, Devon and Somerset. He succeeded his father as third Baron Bridport in 1868 and the same year the viscountcy held by his great-great-uncle was revived when he was created Viscount Bridport, of Cricket St Thomas in the County of Somerset and of Bronté in the Kingdom of Italy. In 1873 Bridport also succeeded his mother as Duke of Bronté, a title created for his great-uncle Lord Nelson. He was made a KBE in 1885 and a GCB in 1891.

Lord Bridport married Lady Mary Penelope, daughter of Arthur Hill, 3rd Marquess of Downshire, in 1838. They had six sons and four daughters. Lady Bridport died in July 1884, aged 66. Bridport survived her by twenty years and died in June 1904, aged 89. He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son Arthur.

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). "Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage" (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.
* [http://www.angeltowns.com/town/peerage/ Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page]
* [http://www.thepeerage.com/ www.thepeerage.com]