George Legge, 3rd Earl of Dartmouth

The Right Honourable
The Earl of Dartmouth
FRS KG PC
President of the Board of Control
In office
1801–1802
Monarch George III
Prime Minister Henry Addington
Preceded by The Viscount Melville
Succeeded by Viscount Castlereagh
Lord Steward
In office
1802–1804
Monarch George III
Prime Minister Henry Addington
Preceded by The Earl of Leicester
Succeeded by The Earl of Aylesford
Lord Chamberlain
In office
1804–1810
Monarch George III
Prime Minister Hon. William Pitt the Younger
The Lord Grenville
The Duke of Portland
Hon. Spencer Perceval
Preceded by The Marquess of Salisbury
Succeeded by Vacant
Personal details
Born 3 October 1755 (1755-10-03)
Died 10 November 1810 (1810-11-11) (aged 55)
Nationality British
Spouse(s) Lady Frances Finch
(d. 1810)

George Legge, 3rd Earl of Dartmouth KG, PC, FRS (3 October 1755 – 10 November 1810), styled Viscount Lewisham until 1801, was a British politician.

Background

Dartmouth was born 3 October 1765. He was the eldest son of William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth, and Frances Katherine, daughter of Sir Charles Gounter Nicoll. He was the elder brother of Admiral the Hon. Sir Arthur Kaye Legge and the Hon. Edward Legge, Bishop of Oxford.[1]

He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, where he matriculated 22 October 1771, and was created M.A. 3 July 1775, and D.C.L. 28 October 1778.[1] At some time during the 1770s he went to Florence as he appears in an important painting by Johann Zoffany which the artist titled the Tribuna of the Uffizi.[2]

Political career

Venus with a Satyr and Cupids by Annibale Carracci Raphael, Madonna della Sedia (Madonna of the Chair), c.1514 Guido Reni, Charity, 1607 Raphael, St John the Baptist Reni, Madonna Madonna della seggiola Correggio, Madonna and Child Justus Sustermans, Galileo Raphael, Madonna of the Goldfinch Franciabigio - Madonna of the Well Guido Reni, Cleopatra, 1635–40 Holy Family, then attributed to Perugino Rubens, Justus Lipsius with his Pupils, c.1615 Portrait of Leo X with two Cardinals by Raphael Tribute Money? by Carravagio? Rubens, Justus Lipsius with his Pupils, c.1615 Raphael, Pope Leo X with Cardinals Giulio de’ Medici and Luigi de’ Rossi, 1518 Niccolini-Cowper Madonna by Raphael Large central painting Holbein, Sir Richard Southwell, 1536 Cristofano Allori, Miracle of St Julian Holy Family, attributed to Niccolò Soggi ummm Raphael, Niccolini-Cowper Madonna, 1508, then in Lord Cowper’s possession, having bought it from Zoffany, now National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC Titian, Venus of Urbino, 1538 Cupid and Psyche, Roman copy of a Greek original of the 1st or 2nd century BC The ‘Arrotino’ (Knife-Grinder), a Pergamene original of 2nd or 3rd century BC Dancing Faun, marble replica of a bronze of the circle of Praxiteles, 4th century BC The Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpents The Wrestlers, marble copy of a bronze Permamene original, 2nd or 3rd century BC Chimera - Etruscan art 8 Oil lamps Egyptian ptahmose, 18th dynasty Greek bronze torso Bust of Julius Caeser Roman silver shield Head of Antinous South Italian crater Etruscan jug Octagonal table with pietra dura top made for the Tribuna, designed by Jacopo Ligozzi and Bernardino Poccetti. Charles Loraine Smith (1751–1835) Richard Edgcumbe, later 2nd Earl of Mount Edgcumbe (1764–1839) George, 3rd Earl Cowper (1738–89) Sir John Dick (1720–1804), British Consul at Leghorn Other Windsor, 6th Earl of Plymouth (1751–99) Johann Zoffany George Legge, Lord Lewisham, later 3rd Earl of Dartmouth (1755–1810) unknown young man Mr Gordon Hon. Felton Hervey (1712–73) Thomas Patch (1725-82), Painter Sir John Taylor Bt., (d. 1786) Sir Horace Mann (1706–86), British Consul in Florence George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea prob. Roger Wilbraham (1743-1829) Mr Watts Mr Doughty, travelling with Charles Loraine Smith Probably Thomas Wilbraham (b. 1751), brother of Roger The Medici Venus, Roman copy of a Greek original of the 2nd century BC James Bruce (1730–94), African explorer
Tribuna of the Uffizi by Johann Zoffany. Place cursor over artworks or persons to identify them.

Dartmouth was returned to Parliament for Plymouth in 1778, a seat he held until 1780.[3] The latter year he was returned for both Horsham[4] and Staffordshire 1784, but chose to represent the latter. He continued to represent this constituency until 1784.[5] From 1783 to 1798 he served as Lord Warden of the Stannaries. He remained out of parliament for the next 17 years, but in 1801 he was summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration in his father's junior title of Baron Dartmouth. He succeeded his father in the earldom later the same year. Dartmouth served under Henry Addington as President of the Board of Control between 1801 and 1802 and as Lord Steward between 1802 and 1804. From 1804 to 1810 he was Lord Chamberlain under successively Pitt the Younger, Lord Grenville, the Duke of Portland and Spencer Perceval. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1801 and appointed a Knight of the Garter in 1805. He was also admitted a Fellow of the Royal Society on 3 May 1781[6] and was the first President of the British Institution in 1805.

Family

Lord Dartmouth married Lady Frances (9 February 1761 - 21 November 1838), daughter of Heneage Finch, 3rd Earl of Aylesford, on 24 September 1782. They had fifteen children:

Lord Dartmouth died on 10 November 1810, aged 55, and was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son, William. Lady Dartmouth only survived her husband by eleven days and died on 21 November 1810.

Kit Harington, famous for his portrayal of Jon Snow on the HBO television series Game of Thrones, is also a descendant of Legge.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 Rigg 1892.
  2. ↑ A key to the people shown, oneonta.edu, retrieved 11 June 2014
  3. ↑ leighrayment.com - House of Commons, Plymouth-Putney
  4. ↑ leighrayment.com - House of Commons, Horncastle-Hythe
  5. ↑ leighrayment.com - House of Commons, Southend-Stamford
  6. ↑ "Lists of Royal Society Fellows". Retrieved 2006-12-15.
  7. ↑ http://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00104914&tree=LEO
  8. ↑ http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/blog/genes-reunited-blog/archive/2013/7/26/game-of-thrones-star-kit-haringtons-noble-blood
Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rigg, James McMullen (1892). "Legge, George (1755-1810)". In Lee, Sidney. Dictionary of National Biography. 32. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
The Viscount Barrington
Sir Charles Hardy		 Member of Parliament for Plymouth
1778–1780
With: Sir Charles Hardy 1778–1780
Sir Frederick Rogers, Bt 1780		 Succeeded by
Sir Frederick Rogers, Bt
George Darby
Preceded by
Lord Grey
Sir John Wrottesley, Bt		 Member of Parliament for Staffordshire
1780–1784
With: Sir John Wrottesley, Bt		 Succeeded by
Sir John Wrottesley, Bt
Sir Edward Littleton, Bt
Political offices
Preceded by
Viscount Melville		 President of the Board of Control
1801–1802 		Succeeded by
Viscount Castlereagh
Preceded by
The Earl of Leicester		 Lord Steward
1802–1804 		Succeeded by
The Earl of Aylesford
Preceded by
The Marquess of Salisbury		 Lord Chamberlain
1804–1810 		Succeeded by
Vacant
Honorary titles
Preceded by
Humphry Morice		 Lord Warden of the Stannaries
1783–1798 		Succeeded by
Sir John Morshead, Bt
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by
William Legge		 Earl of Dartmouth
1801–1810 		Succeeded by
William Legge
Peerage of England
Preceded by
William Legge		 Baron Dartmouth
1801–1810
(writ of acceleration) 		Succeeded by
William Legge
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