General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Joseph Yorke, 1st Baron Dover KB, PC (24 June 1724 – 2 December 1792), styled The Honourable Joseph Yorke until 1761 and The Honourable Sir Joseph Yorke between 1761 and 1788, was a British soldier, diplomat and Whig politician.

Background

Yorke was the third son of

Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, (1 December 16906 March 1764) was an English lawyer and politician who served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. He was a close confidant of the Duke of Newcastle, Prime Minister between 1754 and 17 ...

, by Margaret, daughter of Charles Cocks.

Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, PC, FRS (9 March 1720 – 16 May 1790), styled Viscount Royston between 1754 and 1764, was an English politician and writer. Life The eldest son of Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, he was educated at ...

Charles Yorke Charles Yorke PC (30 December 172220 January 1770) was briefly Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. His father was also Lord Chancellor, and he began his career as a Member of Parliament. He served successively as Solicitor-General and Att ...

and James Yorke were his brothers.thepeerage.com General Joseph Yorke, 1st and last Lord Dover, Baron of the Town and Port of Dover
/ref>

Career

Yorke was commissioned an ensign in the 2nd Regiment of Foot Guards on 25 April 1741, and was promoted to lieutenant in the

1st Regiment of Foot Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

on 24 April 1743. Yorke served in the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George's ...

as an aide-de-camp to the

Duke of Cumberland Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British Royal Family, named after the historic county of Cumberland. History The Earldom of Cumberland, created in 1525, became extinct in 1643. The dukedom ...

, and fought in the Battle of Fontenoy on 11 May 1745. On 27 May, he became captain and lieutenant-colonel, commanding a company in the 2nd Guards. On 1 November 1749, he was appointed an aide-de-camp to the King, and on 18 March 1755, colonel of the

9th Regiment of Foot 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

. He became a

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

in 1758, a Lieutenant-General in 1760 and a full General in 1777. In 1749 he was appointed Secretary to the British Embassy in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. Two years later he became Minister Plenipotentiary to the United Provinces, a post he held for the next thirty years. He was involved in the

Anglo-Prussian Convention The Anglo-Prussian Convention was agreed on 11 April 1758 between Great Britain and the Kingdom of Prussia formalising the alliance between them that had effectively existed since the Convention of Westminster in 1756. The two states agreed not t ...

in 1758. His post was upgraded to that of ambassador in 1761. During this period he also sat in the

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. T ...

for East Grinstead between 1751 and 1761, for Dover between 1761 and 1774 and for

Grampound Grampound ( kw, Ponsmeur) is a village in Cornwall, England. It is at an ancient crossing point of the River Fal and today is on the A390 road west of St Austell and east of Truro.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 204 ''Truro & Falmouth'' ...

between 1774 and 1780. He was appointed a Knight Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

(KB) in 1761 and sworn of the Privy Council in 1768. In 1788 he was raised to the peerage as Lord Dover, Baron of the Town and Port of Dover, in the County of Kent.

Family

Lord Dover married Christiana Charlotte Margaret, daughter of Johan Henrik, Baron de Stöcken, a Danish nobleman, in 1783. They had no children. He died in December 1792, aged 68, when the barony became extinct. Lady Dover only survived her husband by three months and died in March 1793.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dover, Joseph Yorke, 1st Baron 1724 births 1792 deaths 11th Hussars officers Barons in the Peerage of Great Britain Peers of Great Britain created by George III British Army generals British Life Guards officers Yorke, Joseph Yorke, Joseph Yorke, Joseph Yorke, Joseph Yorke, Joseph Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Dover Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Yorke, Joseph Yorke, Joseph

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

Ambassadors of Great Britain to the Netherlands People educated at Newcome's School Royal Norfolk Regiment officers 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars officers 5th Royal Irish Lancers officers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Grampound Coldstream Guards officers Grenadier Guards officers British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession