William Hall Gage, 2nd Viscount Gage (6 January 1717/18 – 11 October 1791) was a British politician who 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. ...

between 1744 and 1780 when he was raised to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Belgi ...

as Baron Gage. He was

equerry An equerry (; from French ' stable', and related to 'squire') is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually up ...

to the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

William Hall Gage was born to

Thomas Gage General Thomas Gage (10 March 1718/192 April 1787) was a British Army general officer and colonial official best known for his many years of service in North America, including his role as British commander-in-chief in the early days of the ...

and his wife Benedicta Maria Theresa Hall on 6 January 1717/18 and christened 31 January 1717/18 at Westminster St James, Middlesex. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

. From 1744 Gage served five terms as

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 ...

representing the Seaford borough of

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

. As eldest son, he succeeded his father to the title

Viscount Gage Viscount Gage, of Castle Island in the County of Kerry of the Kingdom of Ireland, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1720 for Thomas Gage, along with the subsidiary title of Baron Gage, of Castlebar in the County of Mayo ...

on 21 December 1754. He served as

Paymaster of Pensions In 18th century Britain, the Paymaster of Pensions was the official in charge of payments of Crown pensions and bounties. The first paymaster was Edward Nicholas in 1703, and the post was abolished in 1782 by the Civil List and Secret Service Money ...

from 1755 through 1763 and later from 1765 until 1782 when

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

dissolved the office. On 3 February 1757 he married Elizabeth Gideon, the daughter of Sir

Sampson Gideon Sampson Gideon (February 1699 – 17 October 1762) was a Sephardi Jews, Sephardic Jewish banker who was active in 18th-century City of London, London. Gideon is most prominently known for his financing of the House of Hanover, Hanoverian-Whigs ( ...

. They lived at

Firle Place Firle Place is a Manor house in Firle, Sussex, United Kingdom. The Gage family have owned the land at Firle since acquiring it from the Levett family in the 15th century. The manor house was first built in the late 15th century by Sir John Gage ...

in Firle, Sussex. In 1780, Gage was created Baron Gage in the

Peerage of Great Britain The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain between the Acts of Union 1707 and the Acts of Union 1800. It replaced the Peerage of England and the Peerage of Scotland, but was itself r ...

with remainder to heirs male. His wife died 1 July 1783. Since he had no heirs male, he was again ennobled as Baron Gage of Highmeadow in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1790, but this time with special remainder to the heirs male of his brothers. Gage died 11 October 1791."Gage, Viscount (I, 1720)"
''cracroftspeerage''

Family

William Gage's younger brother,

, was Commander-in-Chief of

British forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...

at the beginning of the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. Thomas's son Sir William Hall Gage served as Admiral of the Fleet in 1862. Gage died childless in 1791 and was succeeded by

Henry Gage, 3rd Viscount Gage Henry Gage, 3rd Viscount Gage (4 March 1761 – 29 January 1808) was a British Army officer, Member of Parliament and peer. Henry Gage was born in Montreal, the eldest son of General Thomas Gage, military leader of British Forces at the beginnin ...

, the eldest son of his brother Thomas.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gage, William Hall 1718 births 1791 deaths People educated at Westminster School, London Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

Peers of Great Britain created by George III Viscounts Gage

Family

See also

References