page_title: George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer
section_title: Background and education
hierarchical_section_title: George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer / Background and education
context_page_description: George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer, KG, PC, DL, FRS, FSA, styled Viscount Althorp from 1765 to 1783, was a British Whig politician. He served as Home Secretary from 1806 to 1807 in the Ministry of All the Talents. He was the 3rd paternal great grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales.
context_section_description: Lord Spencer was born at Wimbledon Park, London, the son of John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer, and his wife Margaret Georgiana Poyntz, daughter of Stephen Poyntz, and was baptised there on 16 October 1758. His godparents were King George II, the Earl Cowper (his grandmother's second husband) and his great-aunt the Dowager Viscountess Bateman.
  His sister Lady Georgiana Spencer married the Duke of Devonshire and became a famed Whig hostess. He was educated at Harrow School from 1770 to 1775 and he won the school's Silver Arrow (an archery prize) in 1771. He then attended Trinity College, Cambridge, from 1776 to 1778 and graduated with a Master of Arts. He acceded to the earldom upon the death of his father in 1783.
caption: George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer, portrait in oil by Joshua Reynolds, 1774 - 1776
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