William Legge, 1st Earl of Dartmouth
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William Legge, 1st Earl of Dartmouth (14 October 1672 – 15 December 1750), was
Lord Privy Seal The Lord Privy Seal (or, more formally, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) is the fifth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and abov ...
from 1713 to 1714. He was a
Hanoverian Tory Hanoverian Tories were Tory supporters of the Hanoverian Succession of 1714. At the time many Tories favoured the exiled Jacobite James Francis Edward Stuart to take the British and Irish thrones, while their arch rivals the Whigs supported the ...
, supporting the
Hanoverian succession The Act of Settlement is an Act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catholic, or who married one, bec ...
following the death of Queen Anne.


Life

The only son of
George Legge, 1st Baron Dartmouth George Legge, 1st Baron Dartmouth PC (c. 1647 – 1691) was an English Royal Navy officer, who was appointed Admiral of the Fleet by James II in September 1688. However, he failed to intercept the invasion force under William III that landed ...
, he was educated as a town-boy 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 ...
. He subsequently went to
King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...
, where he graduated M.A. in 1689. He succeeded to his father's barony in 1691. In 1702, he was appointed a member of the
Board of Trade and Plantations The Commissioners for Trade and Plantations was a body formed by the British Crown on 15 May 1696 to promote trade and to inspect and improve the plantations of the British colonies. It was the successor of various previous bodies set up in the seve ...
, and eight years later he became
Secretary of State for the Southern Department The Secretary of State for the Southern Department was a position in the cabinet of the government of the Kingdom of Great Britain up to 1782, when the Southern Department became the Home Office. History Before 1782, the responsibilities of ...
and joint keeper of the signet for
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. In 1711, he was created Viscount Lewisham and
Earl of Dartmouth Earl of Dartmouth is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1711 for William Legge, 2nd Baron Dartmouth. History The Legge family descended from Edward Legge, Vice-President of Munster. His eldest son William Legge was a ...
. In 1713, he exchanged his offices for that of
Lord Privy Seal The Lord Privy Seal (or, more formally, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) is the fifth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and abov ...
, which he held until the end of 1714. After a long period of retirement from public life he died on 15 December 1750. Dartmouth's eldest son, George Legge, Viscount Lewisham (c. 1703 – 1732), had predeceased him, leaving a son,
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 ...
. Another son of the first earl was
Henry Bilson-Legge Henry Bilson-Legge (29 May 1708 – 23 August 1764) was an English statesman. He notably served three times as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the 1750s and 1760s. Background and education Bilson-Legge was the fourth son of William Legge, 1st ...
, who later served as
Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...
. In politics he was a moderate; though himself a Tory, he was prepared to work with the Whigs. He earned the regard of Robert Harley, another believer in moderation; Dartmouth in return remained a loyal friend after Harley's downfall. He also had the confidence of Queen Anne, who praised him as "an honest man." As a Minister, though far from brilliant, he earned a reputation for competence and hard work. He was also noted for discretion; foreign ambassadors complained that it would be easier to get information from a brick wall than from Dartmouth. In his private life, his fondness for laughing at his own jokes led to his nickname "the Jester".


Marriage and children

Lord Dartmouth married Lady Anne Finch, third daughter of
Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Aylesford Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Aylesford, PC, KC (22 July 1719) was an English lawyer and statesman. Early life Finch was second son of Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham and the former Elizabeth Hervey (eldest daughter of Daniel Hervey). H ...
, in July 1700. They had six children: * George Legge, Viscount Lewisham (born c. 1704, died 29 August 1732), father of
William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth, PC, FRS (20 June 1731 – 15 July 1801), styled as Viscount Lewisham from 1732 to 1750, was a British statesman who is most remembered as the namesake of Dartmouth College. Background Dartmouth was the so ...
. * Lady Barbara Legge (born 1701, died 29 October 1765), married
Sir Walter Bagot, 5th Baronet Sir Walter Wagstaffe Bagot, 5th Baronet (3 August 1702 – 20 January 1768) of Blithfield Hall, Staffordshire was an English Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1724 and 1768. Early life Bagot was the eldest surviving son of ...
, of
Blithfield Hall Blithfield Hall (pronounced locally as Bliffield), is a privately-owned Grade I listed country house in Staffordshire, England, situated some east of Stafford, southwest of Uttoxeter and north of Rugeley. The Hall, with its embattled towers ...
. *
Hon. ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...
Heneage Legge (born 1704, died 29 August 1759) * Lady Anne Legge (born 1705, died July 1740), married
Sir Lister Holte, 5th Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...
, of
Aston Hall Aston Hall is a Grade I listed Jacobean house in Aston, Birmingham, England, designed by John Thorpe and built between 1618 and 1635. It is a leading example of the Jacobean prodigy house. In 1864, the house was bought by Birmingham Corpo ...
. *
Rt Hon. ''The Right Honourable'' (abbreviation: ''Rt Hon.'' or variations) is an honorific style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations. The term is ...
Henry Bilson-Legge Henry Bilson-Legge (29 May 1708 – 23 August 1764) was an English statesman. He notably served three times as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the 1750s and 1760s. Background and education Bilson-Legge was the fourth son of William Legge, 1st ...
, PC, FRS (born 29 May 1708, died 23 August 1764),
Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...
three times between 1754 and 1761. *
Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore, a ...
Hon. Edward Legge, FRS (born 1710, died 1747)The Peerage, entry for Edward Legge
/ref> Dartmouth was succeeded by his grandson,
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 ...
, son of his eldest son George Legge, Viscount Lewisham, who died young in 1732. The Dartmouth family lived at
Sandwell Hall Sandwell Hall was a mansion house in the county of West Midlands (originally in Staffordshire), England, about east of West Bromwich. The site is within Sandwell Valley Country Park. It was built in 1711 for William Legge, 1st Earl of Dartmouth ...
(since demolished) in
Sandwell Valley Sandwell Valley is an area of green belt in the county of West Midlands, England, on the border of Birmingham and West Bromwich, with Walsall at its northern end. It is a valley on the River Tame of which are owned by Sandwell Metropolitan Bo ...
.


Legacy

The city of Dartmouth in
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...
, Canada, is named for him.


References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Dartmouth, William Legge, 1st Earl of 1672 births 1750 deaths British Secretaries of State Lords Privy Seal 1
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 I