Earl of Brecknock

A carte-de-visite portrait of the Earl of Brecknock (1840-1872), later Marquess Camden.

The Earl of Brecknock is a courtesy title held by the eldest son of the Marquess Camden.

John Charles Pratt was born on 30 June 1840 in Belgrave Square, London. He was the son of Sir George Charles Pratt, 2nd Marquess Camden and Harriet née Murray. He graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1860 with a Master of Arts (M.A.). He gained the rank of Major in the service of the West Kent Yeomanry Cavalry. He sat briefly as a Member of Parliament (Liberal) for Brecon between February 1866 and 6 August 1866, when he succeeded his father and took his seat in the House of Lords as the 3rd Marquess Camden.

On 12 July 1866 at St. James’s, London, he married Lady Clementin Augusta Spencer-Churchill, daughter of George Spencer-Churchill, 6th Duke of Marlborough.

His residences were Bayham Abbey in Kent, Wilderness Park at Sevenoaks, and 96 Eaton Square, London.

He died on 4 May 1872, at the age of only 31, at 96 Eaton Square, London. On his early death the titles passed to his three-month old son, the fourth Marquess.

Photographed by Camille Silvy of London on 16 May 1861.