George Legge, 1st Baron Dartmouth

George Legge, 1st Baron Dartmouth
George Legge, 1st Baron Dartmouth, by John Riley
Spouse(s)	Barbara Archbold
Issue William Legge, 1st Earl of Dartmouth seven daughters
Noble family	Legge
Father	William Legge
Mother	Elizabeth Washington
Born	c.1647
Died	25 October 1691 Tower of London
Buried	Holy Trinity, Minories, London

Admiral George Legge, 1st Baron Dartmouth PC (c. 1647 – 1691) was an English naval commander who gave distinguished service to both Charles II and James II.

Biography

George Legge was the eldest son of the royalist Colonel William Legge by Elizabeth Washington (c.1616–1688). His maternal grandfather, Sir William Washington^[1] (1590–1648), was the elder brother of Lawrence Washington, great-great grandfather of George Washington,^[2] while his maternal grandmother, Anne Villiers, was a half-sister of James I's favourite, George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham.

Naval career

Legge's naval career began in the Second Anglo-Dutch War of 1665–1667, where he served under his cousin Admiral Sir Edward Spragge; at the end of the war Legge was captain of HMS Pembroke. In March 1672, now in command of HMS Fairfax, he took part in the attack, on the Dutch Smyrna fleet lying off the Isle of Wight, that was the immediate cause of the Third Anglo-Dutch War. In June he fought in the Battle of Sole Bay. The following year he commanded HMS Royal Katherine under Prince Rupert of the Rhine in the Battle of Schooneveld.

By 1683 Legge had risen to be Admiral of the Fleet and he was sent out to Tangier to oversee the evacuation and destruction of the ill-fated English colony there. His last naval appointment was to the command of the Channel Fleet that unsuccessfully attempted to intercept the invasion force led by William III of Orange that landed in 1688 at the beginning of the Glorious Revolution.

Appointments and Honours

Engraved portrait of Lord Dartmouth by Peter Vandrebanc.

As a close supporter of the House of Stuart he held numerous royal appointments and honours.

Lieutenant Governor of Portsmouth 1670
Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance (obtained reversion 1672, succeeded 1679)
Governor of Portsmouth 1673
Master-General of the Ordnance 1682
Master of the King's Horse 1685
Constable of the Tower 1685

In 1682, he was elevated to the peerage by Charles II as the first Baron Dartmouth.

Death

Following the abdication of James II, Dartmouth was dismissed by the triumphant William III, and imprisoned in the Tower of London in July of 1691. He died in the Tower a few months later, on 25 October,^[3] without having been brought to trial, and was buried, as his father had been, in the church of the Holy Trinity, Minories, in London.^[3]

He was succeeded as Baron Dartmouth by his only son, William Legge, 1st Earl of Dartmouth (1672–1750).

Marriage and issue

Dartmouth married, in November 1667, Barbara Archbold (1649/50–1718), the daughter of Sir Henry Archbold of Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire, by whom he had an only son, William Legge, 1st Earl of Dartmouth, born in 1672, and seven daughters.^[3]

Parliament of England
Preceded by William Ashburnham Thomas Grey	Member of Parliament for Ludgershall 1673–1679 With: William Ashburnham	Succeeded by Thomas Neale John Smith
Preceded by Richard Norton Sir George Carteret, Bt	Member of Parliament for Portsmouth 1679–1685 With: Sir John Kempthorne 1679 Richard Norton 1679–1685	Succeeded by William Legge Sir Henry Slingsby, Bt
Military offices
Preceded by The Duke of York	Governor of Portsmouth 1673–1682	Succeeded by The Earl of Gainsborough
Preceded by David Walter	Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance 1679–1682	Succeeded by Christopher Musgrave
Preceded by In Commission	Master-General of the Ordnance 1682–1688	Succeeded by Frederick Schomberg
Preceded by Sir Percy Kirke	Governor of Tangier 1683–1684	Succeeded by none (re-incorporated into Morocco)
New regiment	Colonel of The Ordnance Regiment 1685–1689	Succeeded by The Earl of Marlborough
Political offices
Preceded by The Duke of Richmond	Master of the Horse 1685–1689	Succeeded by Henry de Nassau, Lord Overkirk
Honorary titles
Preceded by The Lord Alington	Constable of the Tower Lord Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets 1685–1688	Succeeded by The Lord Lucas
Peerage of England
New title	Baron Dartmouth 1682–1691	Succeeded by William Legge

Footnotes

↑ Roy 2004.
↑ E.K. Vyhmeister, "Lord Sherborne", page 113
↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Davies 2004.

References

Davies, J.D. (2004). "Legge, George, first Baron Dartmouth (c.1647–1691)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/16352. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) (subscription required) The first edition of this text is available as an article on Wikisource: "Legge, George, (1647?–1691)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
Roy, Ian (2004). "Legge, William (1607/8–1670)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/16348. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) (subscription required) The first edition of this text is available as an article on Wikisource: "Legge, William (1609?-1672)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.