He was a ruthless landlord during the Great Famine in Ireland, evicting thousands of his tenants and renting his land to wealthy ranchers.

Famously stating that he "would not breed paupers to pay priests," he demolished over 300 homes and evicted 2,000 people in Ballinrobe between 1846 and 1849.

[9] At the outbreak of the Crimean War, Lord Lucan applied for a post and was made commander of the Cavalry Division.

His brother-in-law, the 7th Earl of Cardigan, was one of his subordinates, commanding the Light Brigade – an unfortunate choice as the two men heartily detested each other.

[3] Promoted to brevet lieutenant general on 18 August 1854,[10] he was present at the Battle of Alma in September 1854 but, on the orders of the army commander, Lord Raglan, he held his division in reserve.

[12] On his arrival, Lucan's demand for a court-martial was declined and instead he defended himself with a speech to the House of Lords on 19 March 1855, blaming Raglan and his deceased aide-de-camp, Captain Louis Nolan.

Prior to this, distinguished Jews had declined to take the oath "on the true faith of a Christian" and having not been sworn in as required by statute, were refused voting rights although having been elected an MP.

A prominent Jew, Lionel Nathan Rothschild, was thus allowed to enter the House of Commons and was sworn in on 26 July 1858.