William Legge, 4th Earl of Dartmouth FRS, SA (29 November 1784 – 22 November 1853), styled The Honourable William Legge until 1801 and Viscount Lewisham between 1801 and 1810, was a British peer.

Background

Dartmouth was the son of

George Legge, 3rd Earl of Dartmouth George Legge, 3rd Earl of Dartmouth KG, PC, FRS (3 October 1755 – 10 November 1810), styled Viscount Lewisham until 1801, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1778 to 1784. Background George Legge, known from birt ...

, by Lady Frances, daughter of

Heneage Finch, 3rd Earl of Aylesford Heneage Finch, 3rd Earl of Aylesford (6 November 1715 – 9 May 1777), styled Lord Guernsey between 1719 and 1757, was a British peer and politician. Background and education Finch was the son and heir of Heneage Finch, 2nd Earl of Aylesford ...

. Heneage Legge and Arthur Legge were his younger brothers.thepeerage.com William Legge, 4th Earl of Dartmouth
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Career

Dartmouth was returned to

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 ...

as one of two representatives for

Milborne Port Milborne Port is a village, electoral ward and civil parish in Somerset, England, east of Sherborne, and in the South Somerset district. It has a population of 2,802. The parish includes the hamlets of Milborne Wick and Kingsbury Regis. The vil ...

at a by-election in January 1810. However, in November of the same year he succeeded his father in the earldom and took his seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. He was admitted a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

on 7 November 1822. He was also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. Like his father before him, Dartmouth served as an officer in the

Staffordshire Militia The Staffordshire Militia was an auxiliary military force in Staffordshire in the West Midlands of England. From their formal organisation as Trained Bands in 1572 and their reorganisation in 1662 and 1777, the Militia regiments of Staffordshire se ...

, and was promoted to command it with the rank of

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 of ...

in 1812. He was still colonel of the regiment at the time of his death.

Family

Lord Dartmouth was twice married. He married firstly Lady Frances Charlotte Chetwynd-Talbot, daughter of

Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 2nd Earl Talbot Charles Chetwynd Chetwynd-Talbot, 2nd Earl Talbot, KG, PC, FRS (25 April 1777 – 10 January 1849), styled Viscount of Ingestre between 1784 and 1793, was a British politician and slave holder. He served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland betwe ...

, on 5 April 1820. They had one son: * William Walter, 5th Earl of Dartmouth, b. 12 August 1823 Lady Frances died on 4 October 1823. Lord Dartmouth married secondly the Honourable Frances Barrington, daughter of Reverend

George Barrington, 5th Viscount Barrington George Barrington, 5th Viscount Barrington (16 July 1761 – 4 March 1829), was a British minister and aristocrat. Early life Barrington was born on 16 July 1761. He was the third son of Maj. Gen. Hon. John Barrington, who died in Paris on 2 Ap ...

, on 25 October 1828. They had six sons and nine daughters. His children by his second wife were: * Lady Frances Elizabeth Legge, b c1830, * Lady Louisa Legge, b c1831, * Hon. George Barrington Legge, b 19 December 1831, * Lady Beatrix Maria Legge, b c1833, * Hon. Edward Henry Legge, b 23 April 1834, * Hon. Arthur Kaye Howard Legge, b c1835, * Lady Katharine Legge, b c1837, * Lady Florence Legge (1838–1917), who married Colonel Nathaniel Barnardiston and left several children * Hon.

Augustus Legge Augustus Legge (28 November 183915 March 1913) was Bishop of Lichfield from 1891 until 1913. Family and education Legge was the third son of William Legge, 4th Earl of Dartmouth, by his second wife Frances, daughter of George Barrington, 5th V ...

, b 28 November 1839,

Bishop of Lichfield The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West Mi ...

(1891–1913) * Lady Barbara Caroline Legge, b 1841, * Hon. Charles Gounter Legge, b 9 May 1842, * Lady Charlotte Anne Georgiana Legge, b c1844, * Hon. Heneage Legge, b 3 July 1845, * Lady Harriet Octavia Legge, b 1 March 1847, * Lady Wilhelmina Legge, b 1849. The Countess of Dartmouth died on 12 August 1849. Lord Dartmouth remained a widower until his death in November 1853, aged 68., ''...The Earl of Dartmouth died on the 22nd November, at his seat, Patshull, Staffordshire...'' He was succeeded in the earldom by his only child from his first marriage.

Other

Dartmouth was the litigant in the trust law case of '' Howe v Earl of Dartmouth'' (1802) 7 Ves 137.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dartmouth, William Legge, 4th Earl Of 1784 births 1853 deaths 4 Fellows of the Royal Society Lewisham, William Legge, Viscount Lewisham, William Legge, Viscount Staffordshire Militia officers UK MPs who inherited peerages

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 ...