John Gathorne-Hardy, 2nd Earl of Cranbrook

John Stewart Gathorne-Hardy, 2nd Earl of Cranbrook (22 March 1839 – 13 July 1911), known as Lord Medway from 1892 to 1906, was a British peer and Conservative Member of Parliament.

The Right Honourable The Earl of Cranbrook
Arms of the Gathorne Hardy
Member of Parliament for Rye
In office 1868–1880
Preceded by	Lauchlan Bellingham Mackinnon
Succeeded by	Frederick Inderwick
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office 30 October 1906 – 13 July 1911
Preceded by	The 1st Earl of Cranbrook
Succeeded by	The 3rd Earl of Cranbrook
Personal details
Born	John Stewart Hardy 22 March 1839 London, England
Died	13 July 1911 Kent, England
Spouse	Cicely Ridgway
Children	7, including Gathorne
Parents	Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook (father) Jane Stewart Orr (mother)

Born John Stewart Hardy, Lord Cranbrook was the eldest son of the Conservative politician Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook, and Jane Stewart Orr. He assumed the additional surname of Gathorne by Royal licence in 1878 and when his father was elevated to the peerage as Earl of Cranbrook in 1892, he gained the courtesy title of Lord Medway. Cranbrook was elected to the House of Commons for Rye in 1868, a seat he held until 1880, and later represented Mid Kent from 1884 to 1885 and Medway from 1885 to 1892. In 1906, he succeeded his father as second Earl of Cranbrook and took his seat in the House of Lords. His elder sister, Lady Margaret Evelyn Gathorne-Hardy was the wife of Viceroy of India, George Goschen, 2nd Viscount Goschen.

In 1867 at Plaxtol, Kent, Lord Cranbrook married Cicely Marguerite Wilhelmina Ridgway, daughter of Joseph Ridgway and Selina Harriet Doyle (died 1861, Egypt), daughter of Sir Francis Hastings Doyle, 1st Baronet. Their eldest son Gathorne succeeded as the 3rd Earl of Cranbrook. His daughter, Lady Dorothy Milner Gathorne-Hardy, married Rupert D'Oyly Carte, founder of the Savoy Hotel. Their second son, Hon. Sir John Francis Gathorne-Hardy, was a distinguished general in the army. His youngest son, Lt-Col. Hon. Nigel Gathorne-Hardy DSO, was aide-de-camp to the Governor-General of New Zealand and also a decorated officer.

Lord Cranbrook died in July 1911, aged 72, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 3rd Earl of Cranbrook. Lady Cranbrook, his wife, died in 1931.