Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

George Anthony Legh-Keck (1774–1860) was a British MP in the Georgian era who owned

landed estate In real estate, a landed property or landed estate is a property that generates income for the owner (typically a member of the gentry) without the owner having to do the actual work of the estate. In medieval Western Europe, there were two compet ...

s in Leicestershire and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

Early life

Legh-Keck was born at Stoughton Grange, Leicestershire, the only surviving son of

Anthony James Keck Anthony James Keck (c1740 – 1782) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1765 to 1780. Keck was born in Stoughton, Leicestershire, and educated at Eton College, Eton, St John's College, Cambridge, and Lincoln's Inn. He ...

, MP for Newton, and Elizabeth (''née'' Legh), second daughter and co-heiress of Peter Legh (1706–1792), of Lyme Hall, Cheshire. His wife, Elizabeth Atherton, inherited

Bank Hall Bank Hall is a Jacobean mansion in Bretherton, Lancashire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building and is at the centre of a private estate, surrounded by parkland. The hall was built on the site of an older house in 1608 by the Banastres ...

Bretherton Bretherton is a small village and civil parish in the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England, situated to the south west of Leyland and east of Tarleton. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 669. Its name suggests pre-co ...

, which he renovated with help from the architect George Webster in 1832–33.

Career

Legh-Keck was returned to

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

five times as MP for Leicestershire between 1797 and 1831. Commissioned as an

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

in the Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry in 1803, he later served as Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant of the

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...

until his death in 1860. Legh-Keck, in a portrait from 1851, held a broad-topped

shako A shako (, , or ) is a tall, cylindrical military cap, usually with a visor, and sometimes tapered at the top. It is usually adorned with an ornamental plate or badge on the front, metallic or otherwise; and often has a feather, plume (see hackle) ...

sporting a 12-inch white plume held in place by bronze chin scales. In 1805 Legh-Keck bought the lordship of the manor of Houghton-on-the-Hill which remained in the Lilford family until 1913. His younger cousin was

William Legh, 1st Baron Newton William John Legh, 1st Baron Newton, (19 December 1828 – 15 December 1898), was a British Conservative politician and Volunteer officer. Legh was the son of William Legh. He sat as a Member of Parliament for Lancashire South from 1859 to 186 ...

, who previously served as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

Personal life

In 1802, Legh-Keck married his cousin Elizabeth Atherton, second daughter and co-heiress of Robert Atherton, MP, of Atherton Hall,

and Henrietta Maria Legh of Lyme. In 1832, he engaged the architect, George Webster to design extensions and renovate

, her

ancestral An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from wh ...

mansion at

, also installing box pews at

St Mary's Church, Tarleton St Mary's Church is a redundant Anglican church on the A59 road as it passes to the south of the village of Tarleton, Lancashire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, ...

, where he was patron of the living. His wife, Elizabeth Legh-Keck, died at Bank Hall in 1837 as did he aged 86 on 4 September 1860, being buried at Stoughton Church. The Legh-Kecks had no children, so the

Bank Hall estate The Bank Hall Estate is the demesne of the Jacobean mansion house of Bank Hall, including much of land around the village of Bretherton, which is owned by the Lilford Trust. History The Estate began when the Banastre family moved to Lancashire f ...

s passed to Thomas Atherton Powys ( 3rd Baron Lilford) and the Stoughton estate to his wife's nephew, Major Henry Littleton Powys-Keck.

Thomas Littleton Powys, 4th Baron Lilford Thomas Littleton Powys, 4th Baron Lilford (18 March 1833 – 17 June 1896), was a British aristocrat and ornithologist. Life Lilford was the eldest son of Thomas Powys, 3rd Baron Lilford, and Mary Elizabeth Fox, daughter of Henry Vassall-Fox, 3 ...

, who inherited Bank Hall from his father, the 3rd Baron Lilford, on 15 March 1861 auctioned its contents in April 1861 to cover death duties. Lord Lilford then removed to his family seat at

Lilford Hall Lilford Hall is a Grade I listed Jacobean stately home in Northamptonshire in the United Kingdom. The 100-room house is located in the eastern part of the county, south of Oundle and north of Thrapston. History It was started in 1495 as a Tudor ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, leaving

empty and leasing it out.

Collections

Legh-Keck collected stuffed animals and birds and sets of horns from species worldwide. He also owned a collection of classical-style statuettes and casts of figures by the sculptor Antonio Canova. In 1830, the artist

Thomas Phillips Thomas Phillips Royal Academy, RA (18 October 177020 April 1845) was a leading English Portrait painting, portrait and subject Painting, painter. He painted many of the great men of the day including scientists, artists, writers, poets and explo ...

painted a

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...

of Legh-Keck which now is at the Leicester Arts and Museums Service Collection. A large

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

painted on the wall of the

drawing room A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name is derived from the 16th-century terms withdrawing room and withdrawing chamber, which remained in use through the 17th cent ...

at Bank Hall, subject unknown was lost when the roof of the

west wing The West Wing of the White House houses the offices of the president of the United States. The West Wing contains the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room, the Situation Room, and the Roosevelt Room. The West Wing's four floors contain offices for ...

collapsed in the 1980s. There is a collection of Colonel Legh-Keck's

accoutrements Accoutrements are the personal/individual equipment of service people such as soldiers, sailors, police and firemen and employees of some private organizations such as security guards, other than their basic uniform and weapons.In American English ...

held by the Leicestershire Yeomanry Association.Leicestershire Yeomanry Association (2011
"The Prince Albert's Own Yeomanry"
/ref>

References

External links