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 served as
Secretary of State for the Colonies
The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom's government minister, minister in charge of managing certain parts of the British Empire.
The colonial secretary never had responsibility for t ...
from 1772 to 1775, during the initial stages of the
American Revolution
The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
. He is also the namesake of
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
.
Early life
Dartmouth was the son of
George Legge, Viscount Lewisham, who died when Dartmouth was one year old. His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of
Sir Arthur Kaye, 3rd Baronet. He entered
Trinity College, Oxford
Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...
, in 1748, and succeeded his grandfather in the earldom in 1750.
It was Lord Dartmouth who, in 1764, at the suggestion of
Thomas Haweis, recommended
John Newton
John Newton (; – 21 December 1807) was an English evangelical Anglican cleric and slavery Abolitionism, abolitionist. He had previously been a captain of slave ships and an investor in the slave trade. He served as a sailor in the Royal Nav ...
, the former slave trader and author of "
Amazing Grace
"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn written in 1772 and published in 1779 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is possibly the most sung and most recorded hymn in the world, and especially popular in the Unit ...
", to
Edmund Keene, the
Bishop of Chester. He was instrumental in Newton's acceptance for the
Anglican
Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
ministry.
Political career
Lord Dartmouth's political career began with the presidency of the
Board of Trade and Foreign Plantations from 1765-1766.
Secretary for the Colonies
Lord Dartmouth was
Secretary of State for the Colonies
The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom's government minister, minister in charge of managing certain parts of the British Empire.
The colonial secretary never had responsibility for t ...
from 1772 to 1775. He was in this role during the
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a seminal American protest, political and Mercantilism, mercantile protest on December 16, 1773, during the American Revolution. Initiated by Sons of Liberty activists in Boston in Province of Massachusetts Bay, colo ...
. He supported the
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts, sometimes referred to as the Insufferable Acts or Coercive Acts, were a series of five punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. The laws aimed to punish Massachusetts colonists fo ...
and the
Quebec Act
The Quebec Act 1774 ( 14 Geo. 3. c. 83) () was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain which set procedures of governance in the Province of Quebec. One of the principal components of the act was the expansion of the province's territory t ...
.
In 1772, in correspondence with
Sir William Johnson, the Superintendent of Northern Indian Affairs in America, he suggested that there was no reasonable way the British Government could support new trade regulations with the Indians. He sympathised with Johnson's arguments but stated the Colonies did not seem inclined to concur with any new regulations.
He received many letters from North Carolina royal governor
Josiah Martin in the summer of 1775 communicating preparations the Loyalist government was making against Patriot militia units and events of the revolution.
He served as
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 1775-1782.
Lord Dartmouth's arrival in the Colonies was celebrated by
Phillis Wheatley's famous poem, "To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth."
Philanthropy
Lord Dartmouth was a large donor to and the leading trustee for the English trust that would finance the establishment of the
Moor's Charity School, in
Lebanon, Connecticut, by
Eleazar Wheelock
Eleazar Wheelock (April 22, 1711 – April 24, 1779) was an American Congregationalism in the United States, Congregational minister, orator, and educator in present-day Columbia, Connecticut, for 35 years before founding Dartmouth College in ...
to educate and
convert the
Indians.
Wheelock subsequently founded
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
in
Hanover, New Hampshire
Hanover is a New England town, town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university ...
, naming the school in Lord Dartmouth's honour, in hopes of getting his financial support. Lord Dartmouth refused. In London, Lord Dartmouth supported the new
Foundling Hospital
The Foundling Hospital (formally the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children) was a children's home in London, England, founded in 1739 by the philanthropy, philanthropic Captain (nautical), sea captain ...
, a charitable institution for the care and maintenance of London's abandoned children. He served as a vice-president of the organisation from 1755 until his death. The famous painter
Sir Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter who specialised in portraits. The art critic John Russell (art critic), John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century, while Lucy P ...
painted the Earl's portrait and donated it to the hospital.
The portrait is still in the Foundling Hospital Collection and can be seen at the
Foundling Museum in London. He was admitted a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
on 7 November 1754.
Marriage and children
Lord Dartmouth married Frances Catherine Nicholl, daughter of
Sir Charles Gounter Nicoll, on 11 January 1755. They had nine children together:
*
George Legge, 3rd Earl of Dartmouth (born 3 October 1755, died 10 November 1810)
*Hon William Legge (born 4 February 1757)
*Hon Charles Gounter Legge (born 18 May 1759)
*Hon Heneage Legge (born 7 May 1761)
* Hon Henry Legge (born 23 January 1765, died 19 April 1844)
*
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 ...
the Hon Sir
Arthur Kaye Legge KCB (born 25 October 1766, died 12 May 1835)
*
Rt Rev and Hon
Edward Legge (11 December 1767 - 27 January 1827),
Bishop of Oxford
The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The current bishop is Steven Croft (bishop), Steven Croft, following the Confirm ...
1816–27
*
The Ven and Hon
Augustus George Legge (born 21 April 1773, died 1828),
Archdeacon of Winchester 1814–19
* Lady Charlotte Legge (5 October 1774 - 5 November 1848),
[''The Register of Births and Baptisms in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster. 1761-1786''. 8 November 1774.] married
Charles Duncombe, 1st Baron Feversham
Death
Dartmouth died at
Blackheath, Kent, on 15 July 1801, aged 70. He was buried in
Trinity Church in the Minories on 3 August 1801.
He was succeeded by his eldest son,
George. Lady Dartmouth died in July 1805. The family lived at
Sandwell Hall (since demolished) in
Sandwell Valley.
References
;Attribution
External links
Biography, Arms, and Motto
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dartmouth, William Legge, 2nd Earl of
1731 births
1801 deaths
Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford
British officials in the American Revolution
Legge, William
2
English Methodists
Fellows of the Royal Society
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 ...
Lords Privy Seal
Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain
Secretaries of State for the Colonies
Presidents of the Board of Trade
Foundling Hospital
18th-century British philanthropists