George Anthony Legh Keck

The Right Honourable
George Anthony Legh Keck
Member of Parliament
for Leicestershire
Leicester (1797-1831)
Succeeded by Charles March-Phillipps
Thomas Paget
Personal details
Born 1774
Stoughton, Leicestershire, England
Died 4 September 1860
Bank Hall, Bretherton, Lancashire
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s) Elizabeth Legh Keck (née Atherton) (1802-1837)
Relations Anthony James Keck
Leghs of Lyme
Children None
Residence Bank Hall, Bretherton
Occupation Land Owner
Profession British Army
Religion Church of England

George Anthony Legh Keck (1774 –1860) was an English landowner and MP.

Early life

He was born at Stoughton Grange, Leicestershire, the son of Anthony James Keck and Elizabeth (née Legh).[1] He was a member of the Legh family of Lyme Hall at Lyme Park, Cheshire. His wife Elizabeth was from Atherton Hall in Atherton.[2] They inherited Bank Hall in Bretherton, Lancashire and renovated it with help from architect George Webster in 1832-33.

Career

Legh Keck represented Leicestershire in Parliament five times between 1797 to 1831.

Legh Keck, in a portrait from 1851 wore a broad topped Shako with a 12-inch white plume held in place by bronze chin scales.[3] 1805 Legh Keck bought the manor of Houghton on the hill which remained in the Lilford family until 1913.[4] Lt.Col. George Anthony Legh Keck, Esquire was a member of the Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry from 1803 until his death in 1860.[5] His title within the regiment was 'Colonel of Prince Albert's Own Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry'.[6]

Legh Keck's nephew was William Legh, 1st Baron Newton who was also a member of Parliament.

Personal life

The Legh Keck coat of arms from above the front porch at Bank Hall
The Legh Keck coat of arms above the front porch at Bank Hall

In 1802 Legh Keck married his cousin Elizabeth Atherton, daughter of Robert Vernon Atherton of Atherton Hall, and Henrietta Maria Legh of Lyme Hall. In 1832 he engaged architect, George Webster to design extensions and renovate Bank Hall, his mansion in Bretherton, Lancashire. Legh Keck attended St Mary's Church, Tarleton where he had box pews for himself and staff. Elizabeth died at Bank Hall in 1837. Legh Keck died aged 86 on 4 September 1860 at Bank Hall and is buried at Stoughton Church.[7]

George Anthony and Elizabeth Legh Keck had no children, the Bank Hall Estates passed to Thomas Atherton Powys ("Lord Lilford III") and the Stoughton estate to his wife's nephew, Henry Littleton Powys. Thomas Atherton Powys (Lord Lilford V) inherited the Bank Hall estates after the death of his father (Lord Lilford III) in March 1861 and the contents of Bank Hall were auctioned in April 1861 to cover death duties. Lord Lilford V then moved to his family seat at Lilford Hall, Northamptonshire, leaving Bank Hall empty and leasing it out.

Arms

Arms of George Anthony Legh Keck
Crest
A ram's head and a maiden's head.
Escutcheon
Quarterly: 1st, Three diagonal wheatsheafs (Hesketh) and a rampant lion (Legh);[8] 2nd, Three sparrowhawks (Atherton);[9] 3rd, Rampant lion surrounded by eight circles and six birds with interlocking pattern (Fleetwood); 4th, Three gauntlets with horses head centre (unknown)
Motto
EN DIEU EST MA FOY (In God is my faith).[10]

Collections

Symbols taken from Legh Keck's Coat of Arms at Bank Hall in Bretherton.

Legh Keck collected stuffed animals and birds and sets of horns from animals from all over the world. He owned a collection of classical style statuettes and casts of figures by the sculptor Antonio Canova. In 1830 artist, Thomas Phillips painted a portrait of Legh Keck which is in the Leicester Arts and Museums Service Collection.[11] A large mural painted on the wall of the drawing room at Bank Hall, subject unknown was lost when the roof on the west wing collapsed in the 1980s. There is a collection of Legh Keck's accoutrements held by the Leicestershire Yeomanry Association.[12]

References

  1. Leicestershire Yeomanry Association, (2010) "Pre 1900 - G. A. Legh Keck", http://www.paoyeomanry.co.uk/PM/LYPre1900.htm
  2. "Family Homes". Leighsaintthomas.wigan.sch.uk. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
  3. Morgan-Jones, G. (2008) "The Prince Albert's Own Yeomanry - Leicester Yeomanry" http://www.paoyeomanry.co.uk/LY3.htm
  4. JM Lee, RA Mckinley (1964) "Victoria County History - A History of the County of Leicestershire: Volume 5: Gartree Hundred", Pages 157-163, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22055
  5. Sir William Skeffington, Bart. as Colonel of The Leicestershire Yeomanry, c. 1794. Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, vol. 43 iss. 173, p.27. March 1965.
  6. Morgan-Jones, G. (2008) "The Prince Albert's Own Yeomanry - Leicester Yeomanry" http://www.paoyeomanry.co.uk/PM/LYPre1900.htm
  7. Leicestershire Rural Partnership, (2008) "Stoughton - George Anthony Legh Keck", http://www.leicestershirevillages.com/stoughton/georgeanthonyleghkeck.html
  8. House of Names, "Family Crest and Coat of Arms - Legh", http://www.houseofnames.com/fc.asp?sId=5BBEB2CE-BDDD-4CE4-B85E-5340846EDA96&s=Legh 2010
  9. St. Thomas C.E. Primary School, "Coat of Arms - Athertons", http://www.leighsaintthomas.wigan.sch.uk/coat_of_arms.htm#Athertons, 2010
  10. Armorial Gold Heraldry Services, "Family Mottoes - Legh Keck, EN DIEU EST MA FOY", http://www.heraldryclipart.com/l.html, 2010
  11. Public Catalogue Foundation (2011) "Thomas Phillips - George Anthony Legh Keck", http://www.prints.thepcf.org.uk/image/712925/thomas-phillips-george-anthony-legh-keck-1774-1860#
  12. Leicestershire Yeomanry Association (2011) "The Prince Alberts own Yeomanry", http://www.paoyeomanry.co.uk/LYSabretache.htm

External links

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
William Pochin
George Anthony Legh-Keck
Member of Parliament for Leicestershire
17981801
With: Sir Edmund Cradock-Hartopp, 1st Baronet
Succeeded by
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Parliament of Great Britain
Member of Parliament for Leicestershire
18061831
With: Sir Edmund Cradock-Hartopp, 1st Baronet 1798–1801
Lord Robert Manners 1806–1818, 1820–1831
Succeeded by
Charles March-Phillipps
Thomas Paget