English politician, foster father of Kaspar Hauser, 4th Earl Stanhope. His father refused to send him to school and confined him to the family home of Chevening, Kent, so he later went to study in Germany. He shared his father's interest in science and was a fellow of the Royal Society and president of the Medico-Botanical Society. He travelled widely in Europe and in 1831 was introduced to the famous "foundling" Kaspar Hauser, a mysterious young man who had appeared in Nuremburg in 1828 claiming to have been raised in total isolation and knowing nothing of his identity. The two men soon became close and contemporary rumours suggested a homo-erotic element to their relationship. Stanhope supported Hauser financially and paid for unsuccessful inquiries into his origins. In 1831 he became Hauser's foster father and had him placed in the care of a schoolmaster. He returned to England in 1832 but wrote to Hauser frequently, although he began to suspect him of being a fraud. He continued to pay Hauser's living expenses but never carried out his promise to take him to England. Hauser died of a stab wound in 1835, which Stanhope believed was accidently self-inflicted. In 1835 he published "Tracts Relating to Kaspar Hauser", containing all known evidence against Hauser, for which he was attacked by Hauser's supporters but defended by professional historians who described him as a "seeker of truth" and a deceived philanthropist.
English politician, foster father of Kaspar Hauser, 4th Earl Stanhope. His father refused to send him to school and confined him to the family home of Chevening, Kent, so he later went to study in Germany. He shared his father's interest in science and was a fellow of the Royal Society and president of the Medico-Botanical Society. He travelled widely in Europe and in 1831 was introduced to the famous "foundling" Kaspar Hauser, a mysterious young man who had appeared in Nuremburg in 1828 claiming to have been raised in total isolation and knowing nothing of his identity. The two men soon became close and contemporary rumours suggested a homo-erotic element to their relationship. Stanhope supported Hauser financially and paid for unsuccessful inquiries into his origins. In 1831 he became Hauser's foster father and had him placed in the care of a schoolmaster. He returned to England in 1832 but wrote to Hauser frequently, although he began to suspect him of being a fraud. He continued to pay Hauser's living expenses but never carried out his promise to take him to England. Hauser died of a stab wound in 1835, which Stanhope believed was accidently self-inflicted. In 1835 he published "Tracts Relating to Kaspar Hauser", containing all known evidence against Hauser, for which he was attacked by Hauser's supporters but defended by professional historians who described him as a "seeker of truth" and a deceived philanthropist.
Bio by: js
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