Egerton Leigh (7 March 1815 – 1 July 1876) was a British landowner, soldier, Conservative politician and author.

Personal life

Leigh was the only son of Egerton Leigh and Wilhelmina Sarah, daughter of George Stratton, and succeeded his father as

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...

of the ancient

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

family of Leigh of West Hall, High Legh; the Leigh Baronets of South Carolina were a cadet branch of this family, while his first name was derived from his descent from John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater. An earlier junior branch of the medieval Leigh family became Barons Leigh and Earls of Chichester. He was lord of the manors of High Legh and

Twemlow Twemlow is a civil parish, containing the village of Twemlow Green in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2011 Official UK Census, the population of the entire civil parish w ...

, patron of the benefice of High Legh and of the 1st mediety of Lymm. He was educated at Eton College. Leigh married Lydia Rachel, daughter of John Smith Wright, JP in 1842. They had several children, the eldest of whom was Egerton Leigh (who married first Lady Elizabeth Gore White; who died 1880) and great-grandfather of the Conservative politician

Sir Edward Leigh Sir Edward Julian Egerton Leigh (born 20 July 1950) is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1983. Leigh has represented Gainsborough, Lincolnshire in the House of Commons since 1983 (rep ...

, MP for Gainsborough (since 1983). He died on 1 July 1876; his wife survived him by 17 years and died on 3 April 1893.

Military and political career

After leaving Eton, Leigh entered the army as Cornet in the Queen's Bays, and went on to serve as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the

2nd Dragoon Guards The 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was first raised in 1685 by the Earl of Peterborough as the Earl of Peterborough's Regiment of Horse by merging four existing troops of horse. Renamed several ti ...

and a major and brevet lieutenant-colonel in the Cheshire Militia. He was appointed a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

and Deputy Lieutenant for Cheshire, and served as High Sheriff of the county in 1872. At a by-election in 1873 he was elected to parliament for Mid Cheshire, which

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...

he represented until his death three years later. He was a staunch Conservative, in favour of the union of Church and State and of economy in public expenditure.

Published works

Leigh, also an author, wrote ''Ballads & Legends of Cheshire'' (1867) and ''A Glossary of Words Used in the Dialect of Cheshire'' (1877).Harrison S. Leigh, Egerton (1815–1876). ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford University Press; 2004)
(accessed 14 July 2010)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leigh, Egerton 1815 births 1876 deaths People educated at Eton College Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 High sheriffs of Cheshire People from Cheshire

Personal life

Military and political career

Published works

See also

References

External links