Francis Dashwood, 15th Baron le Despencer
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Francis Dashwood, 15th Baron le Despencer (December, 1708 – December 11, 1781) was an English rake and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (1762–1763) and founder of The Hellfire Club.
He was born in London, and educated at Eton College where he became associated with William Pitt the Elder. Orphaned at age 16, he went on a Grand Tour of Europe in 1726.
Shortly after his return to England, Dashwood founded the Hellfire Club. According to the 1779 book Nocturnal Revels, on the Grand Tour he had visited various religious seminaries, "founded, as it were, in direct contradiction to Nature and Reason; on his return to England, [he] thought that a burlesque Institution in the name of St Francis, would mark the absurdity of such Societies; and in lieu of the austerities and abstemiousness there practised, substitute convivial gaiety, unrestrained hilarity, and social felicity."
For his activities in the Hellfire Club, he was in his day widely regarded as being involved in devil worship.
He was Postmaster General for a period, and during this time corresponded with Benjamin Franklin, his opposite number in the North American colonies. The two — feeling that church services were too long — produced an anonymous Abridgement of the Book of Common Prayer in 1773.
He commissioned West Wycombe Park in Buckinghamshire. He served as an honorary vice president of London's charitable Foundling Hospital from 1777 until his death.
[edit] Fictional references
In The Illuminatus! Trilogy Dashwood is mentioned as one of the original five leaders of the Illuminati.
Dashwood's ghost appeared in the "Warped Notions" arc in the comic book Hellblazer and was later summoned and torn apart by John Constantine's children in the arc "Reasons to Be Cheerful".
Sir Francis Dashwood receives a name check from Vivian Stanshall at the end of side two of the original recording of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, as found in the "Mike Oldfield Boxed" collection (Virgin Records - CDBOX1).
Sir Francis Dashwood is a character in the anime "Le Chevalier D'Eon." In the series, he is the leader of a powerful cult - the Revolutionary Order - that seeks to manipulate Europeon powers using magical powers latent in the biblical Book of Psalms. The fictitious cult is based in Medmenham Abbey, Medmenham, England.
Francis Dashwood also appears as Dr. Frank Dashwood [1] (head of Orgasm Research) in Robert Anton Wilson's "The Schrodinger's Cat Trilogy".
Sir Francis Dashwood is a character in the Regency Mystery "Suspense and Sensibility," by Carrie Bebris. In the novel, he is related to the Dashwood family of Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility."
[edit] External links
- The Lives & Times of the Hell-Fire Club
- Photographs of Dashwood's tunnels in West Wycombe
- Francis Dashwood of the English Hellfire Club
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Charles Townshend |
Treasurer of the Chamber 1761 – 1762 |
Succeeded by Sir Gilbert Elliot |
| Preceded by The Viscount Barrington |
Chancellor of the Exchequer 1762 – 1763 |
Succeeded by George Grenville |
| Court offices | ||
| Preceded by The Earl Gower |
Master of the Great Wardrobe 1763 – 1765 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Ashburnham |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by The Earl Temple |
Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire 1763 – 1781 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Chesterfield |
| Peerage of England | ||
| In abeyance
Title last held by
John Fane |
Baron le Despencer 1763 – 1781 |
In abeyance
Title next held by
Thomas Stapleton |
| Baronetage of Great Britain | ||
| Preceded by Francis Dashwood |
Baronet (of West Wycombe) 1724 – 1781 |
Succeeded by John Dashwood-King |
