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Francis Dashwood, 11th Baron Le Despencer
Francis Dashwood, 11th Baron le Despencer, PC, FRS (December 1708 – 11 December 1781) was an English politician and rake, Chancellor of the Exchequer (1762–1763) and founder of the Hellfire Club. Life and career Early life Dashwood was born in Great Marlborough Street, London, in December 1708. He was the only son of Sir Francis Dashwood, 1st Baronet (died 1724), and his second wife Mary, eldest daughter of Vere Fane, 4th Earl of Westmorland. Dashwood was a Protestant in religion who would help edit the Anglican Book of Prayer. Francis and Mary had two children: a son Francis and a daughter Rachael. Sir Francis also had two surviving daughters from his first marriage, and two daughters and two sons from his third. So Francis Dashwood had a sister Rachael, and six half-siblings. Dashwood was educated at Eton College where he became associated with William Pitt the Elder. Upon the death of his father on 4 November 1724, Dashwood, who was only fifteen, inherited his fathe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Right Honourable
''The Right Honourable'' ( abbreviation: ''Rt Hon.'' or variations) is an honorific style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations. The term is predominantly used today as a style associated with the holding of certain senior public offices in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and to a lesser extent, Australia. ''Right'' in this context is an adverb meaning 'very' or 'fully'. Grammatically, ''The Right Honourable'' is an adjectival phrase which gives information about a person. As such, it is not considered correct to apply it in direct address, nor to use it on its own as a title in place of a name; but rather it is used in the third person along with a name or noun to be modified. ''Right'' may be abbreviated to ''Rt'', and ''Honourable'' to ''Hon.'', or both. ''The'' is sometimes dropped in written abbreviated form, but is always pronounced. Countries with common or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sir Robert Austen, 4th Baronet
Sir Robert Austen, 4th Baronet (6 October 1697 – 7 October 1743), of Hall Place, Bexley, Kent, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1728 and 1741. Austen was the son of Sir Robert Austen, 3rd Baronet and his wife Elizabeth Stawell, daughter of George Stawell of Cothelstone Somerset. He succeeded to the title of 4th Baronet Austen of Hall Place in Bexley, Kent upon the death of his father on 5 July 1706 . He matriculated at Oriel College, Oxford in 1715. He was High Sheriff of Kent in 1724. Austen was seated on petition as Member of Parliament (MP) for New Romney, Kent on 29 April 1728 after being defeated in the poll at the 1727 British general election. He voted with the Opposition on the civil list, the Hessians, and the army, but voted for the excise bill, and abstained on the repeal of the Septennial Act. He was defeated at the 1734 British general election, but was returned for New Romney at a by-election on 10 February 1736. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate
St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate is a Church of England church in the Bishopsgate Without area of the City of London, and also, by virtue of lying outside the city's (now demolished) eastern walls, part of London's East End. Adjoining the buildings is a substantial churchyard – running along the back of Wormwood Street, the former course of London Wall – and a former school. The church is linked with the Worshipful Company of Coopers and the Worshipful Company of Bowyers. Position and dedication The church lies on the west side of the road named Bishopsgate (Roman Ermine Street), near Liverpool Street station. The church and street both take their name from the 'Bishop's Gate' in London's defensive wall which stood approximately 30 metres to the south. Stow, writing in 1598 describes the church of his time as standing "in a fair churchyard, adjoining to the town ditch, upon the very bank thereof". The City Ditch was a defensive feature, that lay immediately outside ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hellfire Club
Hellfire Club was a name for several exclusive clubs for high-society rakes established in Britain and Ireland in the 18th century. The name most commonly refers to Francis Dashwood's Order of the Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe. Such clubs, rumour had it, served as the meeting places of "persons of quality"Ashe p.48. who wished to take part in what were socially perceived as immoral acts, and the members were often involved in politics. Neither the activities nor membership of the clubs are easy to ascertain. The clubs allegedly had distant ties to an elite society known only as "The Order of the Second Circle".Blackett-Ord p. 46Ashe p. 111. The first official Hellfire Club was founded in London in 1718, by Philip, Duke of Wharton and a handful of other high-society friends.Blackett-Ord p. 44 The most notorious club associated with the name was established in England by Francis Dashwood, and met irregularly from around 1749 to around 1760, and possibly up until 1766.Ashe. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rake (character)
In a historical context, a rake (short for rakehell, analogous to "hellraiser") was a man who was habituated to immoral conduct, particularly womanizing. Often, a rake was also prodigal, wasting his (usually inherited) fortune on gambling, wine, women, and song, and incurring lavish debts in the process. Cad is a closely related term. Comparable terms are " libertine" and "debauchee". The Restoration rake was a carefree, witty, sexually irresistible aristocrat whose heyday was during the English Restoration period (1660–1688) at the court of King Charles II. They were typified by the "Merry Gang" of courtiers, who included as prominent members the John Wilmot; George Villiers; and Charles Sackville, who combined riotous living with intellectual pursuits and patronage of the arts. At this time the rake featured as a stock character in Restoration comedy. After the reign of Charles II, and especially after the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the cultural perception of the r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Privy Counsellor
The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the British monarchy, sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises Politics of the United Kingdom, senior politicians who are current or former members of either the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons or the House of Lords. The Privy Council formally advises the sovereign on the exercise of the Royal prerogative in the United Kingdom, Royal Prerogative, and as a body corporate (as King-in-Council) it issues Executive (government), executive instruments known as Orders in Council which, among other powers, enact Acts of Parliament. The Council also holds the delegated authority to issue Orders of Council, mostly used to regulate certain public institutions. The Council advises the sovereign on the issuing of Royal Charter, Royal Charters, which are used to grant special status to incorporated bodies, and city s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, Cambridge, making it the 18th-oldest Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) school. Eton is particularly well-known for its history, wealth, and notable alumni, called Old Etonians. Eton is one of only three public schools, along with Harrow (1572) and Radley (1847), to have retained the boys-only, boarding-only tradition, which means that its boys live at the school seven days a week. The remainder (such as Rugby in 1976, Charterhouse in 1971, Westminster in 1973, and Shrewsbury in 2015) have since become co-educational or, in the case of Winchester, as of 2021 are undergoing the transition to that status. Eton has educated prime ministers, world leaders, Nobel laureates, Academy Award and BAFTA award-winning actors, and ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sir Francis Dashwood, 1st Baronet
Sir Francis Dashwood, 1st Baronet ( – 4 November 1724), of St. Botolph without Bishopsgate, London, and West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, was a British merchant, landowner and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1708 to 1713. Early life Francis Dashwood was the third son of Francis Dashwood and his wife Alice Sleigh, daughter of Richard Sleigh of Derbyshire. He was a brother of Sir Samuel Dashwood, Lord Mayor of London, and a cousin of Sir Robert Dashwood, 1st Baronet. His sister Sarah married Fulke Greville, 5th Baron Brooke in 1665. His father was a merchant trading with the country of Turkey, and an Alderman of London. Career Dashwood and his brother Samuel joined their father's business early and became leading silk importers. He became a Freeman of the Vintners' Company in 1680. He was able to loan the government £1,000 in March 1690 and to establish a residence at Wanstead Essex. He was an assistant of the Royal African Company for the years 1693 to 169 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rachel Fanny Antonina Lee
Rachel Fanny Antonina Lee or Rachel Fanny Antonina Dashwood (1770s – 1829) was a British alleged kidnap victim. Life Rachel Fanny Antonina Dashwood was the illegitimate daughter of Sir Francis Dashwood. Her father was Chancellor of the Exchequer and the notorious founder of the Hellfire Club. He gave her about £40,000 after she had been educated at a French convent. She was later reported to be "deplorably ignorant of English life and life universally". Dashwood lodged for a time with a Mrs. Gordon in Kensington Square, and met her two sons, Loudoun and Lockhart, when they returned on holiday from their boarding schools. She later married Matthew Lee in Scotland as she was under age. The attraction was said to be her husband's good looks but the marriage lasted less than two years. Mrs Lee went to live in Manchester, but she was in London in 1803 when she was kidnapped by - or went away with or eloped with - the two Gordon brothers. They had both graduated from Oxford Universi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Tory Party
The Tories were a loosely organised political faction and later a political party, in the Parliaments of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. They first emerged during the 1679 Exclusion Crisis, when they opposed Whig efforts to exclude James, Duke of York from the succession on the grounds of his Catholicism. Despite their fervent opposition to state-sponsored Catholicism, Tories opposed exclusion in the belief inheritance based on birth was the foundation of a stable society. After the succession of George I in 1714, the Tories were excluded from government for nearly 50 years and ceased to exist as an organised political entity in the early 1760s, although it was used as a term of self-description by some political writers. A few decades later, a new Tory party would rise to establish a hold on government between 1783 and 1830, with William Pitt the Younger followed by Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool. The Whigs won control of Parl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east and Hertfordshire to the east. Buckinghamshire is one of the Home Counties, the counties of England that surround Greater London. Towns such as High Wycombe, Amersham, Chesham and the Chalfonts in the east and southeast of the county are parts of the London commuter belt, forming some of the most densely populated parts of the county, with some even being served by the London Underground. Development in this region is restricted by the Metropolitan Green Belt. The county's largest settlement and only city is Milton Keynes in the northeast, which with the surrounding area is administered by Milton Keynes City Council as a unitary authority separately to the rest of Buckinghamshire. The remainder of the county is administered by Buck ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Wycombe
West Wycombe is a small village famed for its manor houses and its hills. It is three miles west of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The historic village is largely a National Trust property and receives a large annual influx of tourists – being the site of West Wycombe Park, West Wycombe Caves and the Mausoleum on top of West Wycombe Hill. The Mausoleum and Golden Ball above West Wycombe village are impressive local landmarks, visually dominating the village and local landscape for miles surrounding. West Wycombe Park, Caves, Mausoleum and St Lawrence's Church were all constructed in the mid-18th century by Sir Francis Dashwood, founder of the Dilettanti Society and co-founder of the notorious Hellfire Club. History Early history The hill above West Wycombe (now the site of St Lawrence's Church and the Mausoleum) has been continuously inhabited for centuries. A Bronze Age settlement is widely believed to have existed here, and research suggests there was a pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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