Henry Bilson-Legge

Hon. Henry Bilson-Legge PC
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office 6 April 1754 – 25 November 1755
Monarch	George II
Prime Minister	The Duke of Newcastle
Preceded by	Sir William Lee
Succeeded by	Sir George Lyttelton, Bt
In office 16 November 1756 – 13 April 1757
Monarch	George II
Prime Minister	The Duke of Devonshire
Preceded by	Sir George Lyttelton, Bt
Succeeded by	The Lord Mansfield
In office 2 July 1757 – 19 March 1761
Monarch	George II George III
Prime Minister	The Duke of Newcastle
Preceded by	The Lord Mansfield
Succeeded by	The Viscount Barrington
Personal details
Born	29 May 1708(1708-05-29)
Died	23 August 1764(1764-08-23) (aged 56)
Nationality	British
Political party	Whig
Spouse(s)	Mary, Lady Stawell (later Countess of Hillsborough)
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford

Henry Bilson-Legge PC (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.

Contents 1 Background and education 2 Political career 3 Family 4 References

Background and education

Bilson-Legge was the fourth son of William Legge, 1st Earl of Dartmouth, by his wife Lady Anne, daughter of Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Aylesford. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford.

Political career

He became private secretary to Sir Robert Walpole. In 1739 was appointed secretary of Ireland by the lord-lieutenant, William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire; being chosen Member of Parliament for the borough of East Looe in 1740, and for Orford, Suffolk, at the general election in the succeeding year.

Legge only shared temporarily in the downfall of Walpole, and became in quick succession Surveyor-General of Woods and Forests, a Lord of the Admiralty, and a Lord of the Treasury. In 1748 he was sent as envoy extraordinary to Frederick the Great, and although his conduct in Berlin was sharply censured by George II, he became Treasurer of the Navy soon after his return to England. In April 1754 he joined the ministry of the duke of Newcastle as chancellor of the Exchequer, the king consenting to this appointment although refusing to hold any intercourse with the minister; but Legge shared the elder Pitt's dislike of the policy of paying subsidies to the landgrave of Hesse, and was dismissed from office in November 1755.

Twelve months later he returned to his post at the exchequer in the administration of Pitt and the 4th Duke of Devonshire, retaining office until April 1757 when he shared both the dismissal and the ensuing popularity of Pitt. When, in conjunction with the duke of Newcastle, Pitt returned to power in the following July, Legge became chancellor of the exchequer for the third time. He imposed new taxes upon houses and windows, and the king refused to make him a peer.

In 1759 he obtained the sinecure position of surveyor of the petty customs and subsidies in the port of London, and having in consequence to resign his seat in parliament he was chosen one of the members for Hampshire, a proceeding which greatly incensed the earl of Bute, who desired this seat for one of his friends. Having thus incurred Bute's displeasure Legge was again dismissed from the exchequer in March 1761, but he continued to take part in parliamentary debates until his death at Tunbridge Wells in 1764.

Legge took the additional name of Bilson on succeeding to the estates of a relative, Thomas Bettersworth Bilson, in 1754. Pitt called Legge, the child, and deservedly the favourite child, of the Whigs. Horace Walpole said he was of a creeping, underhand nature, and aspired to the lion's place by the manoeuvre of the mole, but afterwards he spoke in high terms of his talents.

Family

Henry Bilson-Legge married Mary Stawell, daughter and heiress of the Edward Stawell, 4th Baron Stawell (d. 1755). In 1760, Mary, who had been created the 1st Baroness Stawell, bore Henry Bilson-Legge's only child, Henry Bilson-Legge, 2nd Baron Stawell (1757–1820), who became Baron Stawell on his mother's death in 1780. When the 2nd Baron Stawell died without sons his title became extinct. His only daughter, Mary (d. 1864), married John Dutton, 2nd Baron Sherborne.

References

• John Butler, Bishop of Hereford, Some Account of the Character of the late Rt. Hon. H. Bilson-Legge (1765)
• Horace Walpole, Memoirs of the Reign of George II (London, 1847); and Memoirs of the ReIgn of George III, edited by G. F. R. Barker (London, 1894)
• W. E. H. Lecky, History of England, vol. ii. (London, 1892);
• and the memoirs and collections of correspondence of the time.
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Charles Longueville Samuel Holden	Member of Parliament for East Looe with Charles Longueville 1740–1741	Succeeded by James Buller Francis Gashry
Preceded by Richard Powys John Cope	Member of Parliament for Orford with Lord Glenorchy 1741–1746 The Viscount Bateman 1746–1747 Hon. John Waldegrave 1747–1754 John Offley 1754–1759 1741–1759	Succeeded by John Offley Charles FitzRoy
Preceded by Alexander Thistlethwayte The Marquess of Winchester	Member of Parliament for Hampshire with Alexander Thistlethwayte 1759–1761 Simeon Stuart 1761–1765 1759–1761	Succeeded by Simeon Stuart Sir Richard Mill, Bt
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Unknown	British Envoy to Prussia 1749-1749	Succeeded by Charles Hanbury Williams
Political offices
Preceded by Thomas Townshend	Chief Secretary for Ireland 1739–1741	Succeeded by Viscount Duncannon
Preceded by Francis Whitworth	Surveyor General of Woods and Forests 1742–1745	Succeeded by John Phillipson
Preceded by George Dodington	Treasurer of the Navy 1749–1754	Succeeded by George Grenville
Preceded by Sir William Lee	Chancellor of the Exchequer 1754–1755	Succeeded by Sir George Lyttelton, Bt
Preceded by Sir George Lyttelton, Bt	Chancellor of the Exchequer 1756–1757	Succeeded by The Lord Mansfield
Preceded by The Lord Mansfield	Chancellor of the Exchequer 1757–1761	Succeeded by The Viscount Barrington

Chancellors of the Exchequer of England Giffard Stanton Browne Witham Fowler Catesby Lovell Berners Cromwell Baker Sackville Mildmay Fortescue Dunbar Caesar Brooke Portland Barrett Cottington Colepeper Clarendon Shaftesbury Duncombe Ernle Warrington Hampden Halifax Smith Carleton of Great Britain Carleton Smith Oxford/Mortimer Bingley Wyndham Onslow Walpole Stanhope Aislabie Pratt Walpole Sandys Pelham Lee Bilson-Legge Lyttelton Bilson-Legge Mansfield Bilson-Legge Barrington le Despencer Grenville Dowdeswell Townshend North Cavendish Pitt Cavendish Pitt Sidmouth Pitt Lansdowne Perceval Bexley of the United Kingdom Bexley Goderich Canning Tenterden Herries Goulburn Spencer Denman Peel Monteagle Northbrook Goulburn Halifax Disraeli Gladstone Lewis Disraeli Gladstone Disraeli Hunt Lowe Gladstone Iddesleigh Gladstone Childers Hicks Beach Harcourt R Churchill Goschen Harcourt Hicks Beach Ritchie A Chamberlain Asquith Lloyd George McKenna Bonar Law A Chamberlain Horne Baldwin N Chamberlain Snowden W Churchill Snowden N Chamberlain Simon Wood Waverley Dalton Cripps Gaitskell Butler Macmillan Thorneycroft Amory Lloyd Maudling Callaghan Jenkins Macleod Barber Healey Howe Lawson Major Lamont Clarke Brown Darling Osborne

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Persondata
Name	Bilson-Legge, Henry
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	29 May 1708
Place of birth
Date of death	23 August 1764
Place of death