Charles Augustus Stanhope, 8th Earl of Harrington (9 January 1844 – 5 February 1917), known as Viscount Petersham from 1866 to 1881, was a British peer and successful polo player.

He learned polo in Malta while in the Cheshire Yeomanry, a regiment of which he became Lieutenant-Colonel in command from 1899 to 1905 and Honorary Colonel thereafter.

His rotund figure and flowing beard were a memorable image on British polo grounds and an obvious choice for caricature in Vanity Fair.

He played at the Staffordshire Polo Club, based at Ingestre Hall, founded by Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury, in 1895.

[7] Lord Harrington's main family homes in 1883 were Elvaston Castle, Derbyshire, and Gawsworth Old Hall, Cheshire.