George Cornwall Legh JP DL MP (30 August 1804 – 16 June 1877) was a 19th-century British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

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 of ...

who represented Mid Cheshire.

Background and education

The head of an old

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, Legh was the eldest son of George John Legh of East Hall,

High Legh High Legh is a village, civil parishes in England, civil and ecclesiastical parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is north west of Knutsford, east of Warrington and south west of M ...

, and Mary, daughter of John Blackburne. He was educated at

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, C ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. Legh served as a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in the 2nd Royal Cheshire Militia. Google Books He was also a deputy lieutenant and

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 ...

for Cheshire and served as high sheriff of the county in 1838.

Political career

Legh was elected to

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

for Cheshire North in 1841, a

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he held until 1847 and again between 1848 and 1868, when it was abolished and he was instead returned for the newly created Mid Cheshire constituency, which he represented until 1873.

Family

Legh married Louisa Charlotte, daughter of Edward Taylor, in 1828. There were no surviving children from their marriage. He died in June 1877, aged 72, and was succeeded in the family estate by descendants of his brother, later

Barons Grey of Codnor Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher th ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Legh, George 1804 births 1877 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Deputy Lieutenants of Cheshire High Sheriffs of Cheshire