John Leveson-Gower,1st Earl Gower,PC (10 August 1694 –25 December 1754) was an English Tory politician and peer who twice served as Lord Privy Seal from 1742 to 1743 and 1744 to 1754. Leveson-Gower also served in the Parliament of Great Britain,where he sat in the House of Lords as a leading member of the Tories,prior to switching his political affiliation and serving in various Whig-led government ministries until his death in 1754.
During the 1747 British general election,seven parliamentary constituencies which were under Leveson-Gower's control were contested by rival Tory candidates. Despite spending large sums of money from his vast financial estate,he only managed to retain two constituencies,Stafford and Lichfield. Leveson-Gower subsequently twice rejected calls to resign in 1751 and 1754,before dying in office on 25 December 1754 at his London townhouse.
Leveson-Gower was educated at Westminster School before graduating from Christ Church,Oxford after entering the college in 1710.[1] During his youth,though he was a Jacobite sympathiser,Leveson-Gower remained uninvolved in politics,being more interested in fox hunting and horse racing. However,beginning in 1720 he turned his attention to political affairs,making efforts to bring parliamentary seats in Staffordshire under his control.[3]
By the late 1720s,Leveson-Gower had managed to secure a base of parliamentary support,which consisted of four constituencies:Newcastle-under-Lyme,Stafford,Lichfield and Cheadle (he served as the town mayor of Cheadle in 1721).[4] After Leveson-Gower's father died in 1709,Leveson-Gower inherited his peerage and soon took his seat in the British House of Lords,eventually emerging as a leading figure in the Tory faction.[3][5]
Leveson-Gower's alliance with a rival political party,described by historians as "a move of considerable party political importance",soon collapsed as he resigned from his position on December 1743.[7] However,he was reappointed as Lord Privy Seal in 1744 as part of the Broad Bottom ministry,a coalition government led by Henry Pelham and his brother Thomas Pelham-Holles,1st Duke of Newcastle,which stayed in power for a decade.[3]
When the Jacobite rising of 1745 broke out,Leveson-Gower personally assured George II of Great Britain of his loyalty,raising one of the fifteen new British military regiments formed to oppose the Jacobite invasion of England;in recognition of these actions,he was granted the titles of Viscount Trentham and Earl Gower by George II on 8 July 1746.[3][8] However,Leveson-Gower's regiment proved unwilling to face any possibility of fighting,refusing to move beyond the nearest tavern when his son-in-law Sir Richard Wrottesley,7th Baronet raised a Yeomanry unit and joined them.[9][10]
In 1748,he was again appointed as a Lord Justice,being appointed again in 1750 and 1752.[3] Leveson-Gower's continuing support of a Whig-led ministry led to increasing backlash amongst his fellow Tories and English Jacobites,who perceived John Russell,4th Duke of Bedford as having "corrupted" him;in a letter to the 4th Duke of Bedford,Leveson-Gower complained that he was being "persecuted by the gout and Jacobitism". In 1747,a protest by a group of English Jacobites at the Lichfield horse races forced Leveson-Gower to refrain from leaving his house for a time.[9]
Despite mounting levels of public and private criticism,he refused to resign from his position as Lord Privy Seal,an action which led English lexicographer and prominent Tory Dr.Samuel Johnson to include Leveson-Gower in his seminal 1755 work A Dictionary of the English Language under the definition of renegado,though this was later removed by Johnson's printer.[11][12] By the early 1750s,Leveson-Gower had solidified his political loyalty to the Pelham brothers,joining a group of British parliamentarians (dominated by members of the Whig party) known as the "Pelhamites".[3]
During the 1747 British general election,Leveson-Gower's parliamentary support base,which included seven constituencies in Staffordshire and Westminster,came under heavy threat by rival political candidates.[13] Though he had succeeded to the position of Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire in 1742,which gave him a large advantage in determining the outcome of parliamentary elections,all seven constituencies were contested by Tory politicians with extensive backing.[3]
Despite suffering from gout,Leveson-Gower chose to defend his support base,focusing on the constituencies of Stafford and Lichfield;this was despite the fact that,as George Anson noted in a letter to the 4th Duke of Bedford,"everything has been done that could be thought of against Lord Gower's interest". Leveson-Gower complained that he was being opposed in the elections "by... men that I have lived in the strictest friendship with the best part of my life".[9]
When the results of the elections were announced,Leveson-Gower discovered that,despite his extensive campaigning efforts,he had lost five out of the seven constituencies of his support base;the two he had retained,Stafford and Lichfield,were due in Henry Pelham's opinion "almost entirely to the Whigs".[14] According to Wisker,the "considerable" cost of campaigning during the general election sapped a significant portion of Leveson-Gower's financial estate.[3]
In June 1751,Leveson-Gower refused to join his third son Granville (by now a member of parliament) and the 4th Duke of Bedford in resigning from their positions as a show of support to John Montagu,4th Earl of Sandwich,who had been dismissed from his position as First Lord of the Admiralty by the 1st Duke of Newcastle.[15] When Henry Pelham died in March 1754,leading to the Broad Bottom ministry's collapse,he again refused to resign from his position.[3]
On 25 December 1754,he died at his London townhouse at 6 Upper Brook Street.[3] After his death,Leveson-Gower's titles were inherited by Granville,while his position as Lord Privy Seal was succeeded by Charles Spencer,3rd Duke of Marlborough.[15][16] His death was recorded in a letter written by English writer,bluestocking and artist Mary Delany on December 28,who noted,as per mourning customs,that women who mourned Leveson-Gower's passing wore only grey or white clothing for a week.[17]
Leveson-Gower's political career was supported by his vast personal estate,which partially consisted of investments in Britain's rapidly growing industrial production sector and ownership of shares in eight other estates,including those of fellow British peers Willem van Keppel,2nd Earl of Albemarle and William Pulteney,1st Earl of Bath. However,the sizeable costs of electoral campaigning combined with family expenses took a heavy toll on his estate,and by Leveson-Gower's death in 1754,he owed outstanding debts to the tune of £37,861 along with roughly £36,000 in legacies.[3]
Over the course of his life,Leveson-Gower married thrice. On 13 March 1712,he married Lady Evelyn Pierrepont,the third daughter of Evelyn Pierrepont,1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull. They had eleven children,including Granville and Gertrude,before she died on 26 June 1727. After her death,Leveson-Gower remarried to Penelope Stonhouse on 31 October 1733,though she soon died on 19 August 1734. Leveson-Gower's third and last wife was Lady Mary Tufton,whom he married on 16 May 1736. She bore two of his sons,surviving his death and dying on 9 February 1785.[3]
Granville,who chose to follow his father into a career in politics,also served as Lord Privy Seal,succeeding to the position in 1755 after the 3rd Duke of Marlborough and holding it until 1757.[16] He would go on to be granted the title of Marquess of Stafford in 1786 by King George III and serve as a leading Tory politician.[15] Leveson-Gower's sixth son John served in the Royal Navy and participated in several naval battles with the French Navy during the American Revolutionary War before entering Parliament and sitting in the House of Commons until his death in 1792.[21]
Henry Pelham was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1743 until his death in 1754. He was the younger brother of Thomas Pelham-Holles,1st Duke of Newcastle,who served in Pelham's government and succeeded him as prime minister. Pelham is generally considered to have been Britain's third prime minister,after Robert Walpole and the Earl of Wilmington.
Granville George Leveson-Gower,2nd Earl Granville,,styled Lord Leveson until 1846,was a British Liberal statesman and diplomat from the Leveson-Gower family. He is best remembered for his service as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Duke of Sutherland is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom which was created by William IV in 1833 for George Leveson-Gower,2nd Marquess of Stafford. A series of marriages to heiresses by members of the Leveson-Gower family made the dukes of Sutherland one of the richest landowning families in the United Kingdom. The title remained in the Leveson-Gower family until the death of the 5th Duke of Sutherland in 1963,when it passed to the 5th Earl of Ellesmere from the Egerton family.
George Howard,6th Earl of Carlisle of Castle Howard,,styled Viscount Morpeth until 1825,was a British statesman. He served as Lord Privy Seal between 1827 and 1828 and in 1834 and was a member of Lord Grey's Whig government as Minister without Portfolio between 1830 and 1834.
John Granville,1st Earl of Bath PC was an English landowner who served in the Royalist army during the First English Civil War and was rewarded for his services after the 1660 Stuart Restoration with a title and various appointments.
Harriet Elizabeth Georgiana Sutherland-Leveson-Gower,Duchess of Sutherland,styled The Honourable Harriet Howard before her marriage,was Mistress of the Robes under several Whig administrations:1837–1841,1846–1852,1853–1858,and 1859–1861;and a great friend of Queen Victoria. She was an important figure in London's high society,and used her social position to undertake various philanthropic undertakings including the protest of the English ladies against American slavery.
Granville Leveson-Gower,1st Marquess of Stafford,KG PC,known as Viscount Trentham from 1746 to 1754 and as The Earl Gower from 1754 to 1786,was a British politician from the Leveson-Gower family. Sitting in the House of Lords,he spent a quarter of a century in the Cabinet.
Sir William Wyndham,3rd Baronet,of Orchard Wyndham in Somerset,was an English Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1710 to 1740. He served as Secretary at War in 1712 and Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1713 during the reign of the last Stuart monarch,Queen Anne (1702–1714). He was a Jacobite leader firmly opposed to the Hanoverian succession and was leader of the Tory opposition in the House of Commons during the reign of King George I (1714–1727) and during the early years of King George II (1727–1760).
Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn,3rd Baronet was a Welsh politician and landowner who sat in the British House of Commons from 1716 to 1749,when he died in office. A member of the Tory party,he was also a prominent Jacobite sympathiser. He helped engineer the downfall of Prime Minister Robert Walpole in 1742 and engaged in negotiations with the exiled Stuarts prior to the Jacobite rising of 1745 but did not participate in the rebellion himself. Watkin died in a hunting accident in 1749.
John Leveson-Gower,1st Baron Gower PC was a member of the Leveson-Gower family. He was the son of Sir William Leveson-Gower,4th Baronet and his wife Jane Granville. He was born in Sittenham,Yorkshire. His maternal grandparents were John Granville,1st Earl of Bath and his wife Jane Wyche,daughter of Sir Peter Wyche.
George Granville Leveson-Gower,1st Duke of Sutherland KG,PC,known as Viscount Trentham from 1758 to 1786,as Earl Gower from 1786 to 1803 and as the Marquess of Stafford from 1803 to 1833,was an English politician,diplomat,landowner and patron of the arts from the Leveson-Gower family. He was the wealthiest man in Britain during the latter part of his life. He remains a controversial figure for his role in the Highland Clearances.
George Granville Sutherland-Leveson-Gower,2nd Duke of Sutherland,KG,styled Viscount Trentham until 1803,Earl Gower between 1803 and 1833 and Marquess of Stafford in 1833,was a British peer and Whig politician from the Leveson-Gower family.
Granville Leveson-Gower,1st Earl Granville,,styled Lord Granville Leveson-Gower from 1786 to 1815 and The Viscount Granville from 1815 to 1833,was a British Whig statesman and diplomat from the Leveson-Gower family.
The Bedford Whigs were an 18th-century British political faction,led by John Russell,4th Duke of Bedford. Other than Bedford himself,notable members included John Montagu,4th Earl of Sandwich;Granville Leveson-Gower,2nd Earl Gower;Richard Rigby,who served as principal Commons manager for the group;Thomas Thynne,3rd Viscount Weymouth;Edward Thurlow;and George Spencer,4th Duke of Marlborough
This is a list of people who have served as Custos Rotulorum of Staffordshire.
Leveson-Gower,also Sutherland-Leveson-Gower,is the name of a powerful British noble family. Over time,several members of the Leveson-Gower family were made knights,baronets and peers. Hereditary titles held by the family include the dukedom of Sutherland,as well as the ancient earldom of Sutherland and the earldom of Granville. Several other members of the family have also risen to prominence.
Sir John Wrottesley,8th Baronet,of Wrottesley Hall in Staffordshire,was a British army officer and politician who was a Member of the British House of Commons from 1768 to 1787.
Sir Archibald Macdonald,1st Baronet was a Scottish-born English lawyer,judge and politician.
Sir Edward Littleton of Pillaton Hall,4th Baronet,was a long-lived Staffordshire landowner and MP from the extended Littleton/Lyttelton family,who represented Staffordshire in the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of the United Kingdom for a total of 28 years. The last of the Littleton Baronets of Pillaton Hall,he transferred the family seat from eponymous Pillaton to Teddesley Hall,and died childless,leaving the estates to his great-nephew,Edward Walhouse,who became Edward Littleton,1st Baron Hatherton.
Susanna Leveson-Gower,Marchioness of Stafford (1742–1805),styled Lady Susanna Stewart from 1742 to 1768,Countess Gower until 1786,Marchioness of Stafford until 1803 and Dowager Marchioness of Stafford until her death in 1805,was a British noblewoman,who in 1768 became the wife of Granville Leveson-Gower,1st Marquess of Stafford and a member of the Leveson-Gower family.
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