George Legge, 1st Baron Dartmouth, ( – 25 October 1691) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer and politician who was appointed Admiral of the Fleet by

James II of England James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II of England, Charles II, on 6 February 1 ...

in September 1688. However, he failed to intercept a Dutch invasion force under William of Orange that landed at Torbay on 5 November 1688 and was dismissed following the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

Personal details

George Legge was born , the eldest son of

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), 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 colon ...

William Legge and his wife Elizabeth Washington (c.1616–1688). A close friend of Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Colonel Legge served in the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

army during the

Wars of the Three Kingdoms The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, then separate entities in a personal union un ...

and was arrested several times during

The Protectorate The Protectorate, officially the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, was the English form of government lasting from 16 December 1653 to 25 May 1659, under which the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotl ...

for conspiring to restore Charles II. After the Stuart Restoration in 1660, he was appointed Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance, a position he held from 1660 to 1670. George's younger brother William (circa 1650-1697) was "a wild, profane creature" who allegedly killed a man while still in his teens. but was elected MP for

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

in 1685. His sister Mary (1647-1715) married diplomat and politician Sir Henry Goodricke (1642-1705). In November 1667 George married Barbara Archbold (1650–1718), daughter of Sir Henry Archbold of Abbots Bromley in Staffordshire; they had a son,

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

(1672-1750), and seven girls. His daughter Mary (died 1753) married Sir Philip Musgrave (1661-1689), who served under Legge as Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance from 1682 to 1687.

Career

Educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

and King's College, Cambridge, Legge began his naval career during the

Second Anglo-Dutch War The Second Anglo-Dutch War, began on 4 March 1665, and concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Breda (1667), Treaty of Breda on 31 July 1667. It was one in a series of Anglo-Dutch Wars, naval wars between Kingdom of England, England and the D ...

, when he served as a volunteer under his cousin Admiral Sir Edward Spragge in the 1666 Four Days' Battle. Thanks to these connections, at the age of twenty in April 1667 he was made Captain of ''HMS Pembroke'', a 28-gun fifth-rate, which sank on 11 May following a collision with near Torbay. Despite this inauspicious beginning, he was appointed Groom of the Chamber to the future

in 1669, then given command of ''HMS Fairfax'' in January 1672. In late March, he took part in an attack on a Dutch Levant Company convoy in the Channel, which was beaten off by its escort but became an immediate cause of the Third Anglo-Dutch War. In June he fought in the Battle of Sole Bay. The following year he commanded under Prince Rupert of the Rhine in the Battle of Schooneveld. By 1683 Legge had risen to be

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

and he was sent out to Tangier with Samuel Pepys to oversee the evacuation and destruction of the ill-fated English colony there. His last naval appointment was to the command of a fleet in the channel which unsuccessfully attempted to intercept the invasion force led by William III of Orange that landed in 1688 at the beginning of the

. The same year he was appointed the first Admiral of the Fleet.

Death

Following the abdication of James II, Dartmouth was dismissed by the triumphant William III, and imprisoned in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

in July 1691. He died in the Tower a few months later, on 25 October, without having been brought to trial, and was buried, as his father had been, in the church of the Holy Trinity, Minories, in London. He was succeeded as Baron Dartmouth by his only son, William Legge, 1st Earl of Dartmouth (1672–1750).

References

Sources

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External links

Staffordshire at Sea Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dartmouth, George Legge, 1st Baron 1640s births 1691 deaths 1 Peers of England created by Charles II Lord-lieutenants of the Tower Hamlets Members of the Privy Council of England Royal Fusiliers officers Royal Navy admirals of the fleet George Governors of Tangier English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681 English MPs 1681