View source for William Legge, 6th Earl of Dartmouth

{{Short description|British peer and Conservative politician}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name = The Earl of Dartmouth
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCVO|KCB|VD|TD|PC|JP}}
| image = William Heneage Legge, 6th Earl of Dartmouth.png
| imagesize = 200px
| caption = William Heneage Legge – 1907
| order1 = [[Vice-Chamberlain of the Household]]
| term_start1 = 27 June 1885
| term_end1 = 28 January 1886
| monarch1 = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]
| primeminister1 = [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|The Marquess of Salisbury]]
| predecessor1 = [[Lord Charles Bruce]]
| successor1 = [[Frederick Lambart, 9th Earl of Cavan|Viscount Kilcoursie]]
| term_start2 = 5 August 1886
| term_end2 = 24 November 1891
| monarch2 = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]
| primeminister2 = [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|The Marquess of Salisbury]]
| predecessor2 = [[Frederick Lambart, 9th Earl of Cavan|Viscount Kilcoursie]]
| successor2 = [[Brownlow Cecil, 4th Marquess of Exeter|Lord Burghley]]
| birth_date = {{birth-date|6 May 1851}}
| birth_place = [[Westminster]], London
| death_date = {{death-date and age|11 March 1936|6 May 1851}}
| death_place = [[Patshull Hall]], Staffordshire
| nationality = British
| party = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| alma_mater = [[Christ Church, Oxford]]
| spouse = {{marriage |Lady Mary Coke |1879 |1929 |end=d}}
}}
[[File:Dartmouth6.JPG|thumb]]
'''William Heneage Legge, 6th Earl of Dartmouth''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|commas=on|GCVO|KCB|VD|TD|PC|JP}} (6 May 1851 – 11 March 1936), styled '''Viscount Lewisham''' between 1853 and 1891, was a [[British Peerage|British peer]] and [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] politician. He served as [[Vice-Chamberlain of the Household]] between 1885 and 1886 and again between 1886 and 1891.
==Background and education==
Born at [[Westminster]], London, Dartmouth was the eldest son of [[William Legge, 5th Earl of Dartmouth]], and Lady [[Augusta Legge|Augusta]], daughter of [[Heneage Finch, 5th Earl of Aylesford]]. [[Henry Legge (courtier)|Sir Henry Legge]] was his younger brother. He was educated at [[Eton College]] and [[Christ Church, Oxford]].<ref name="thepeerage.com">{{Cite web|url=http://thepeerage.com/p1361.htm#i13605|title=William Heneage Legge, 6th Earl of Dartmouth|website=thepeerage.com|access-date=2020-03-04}}</ref> On 7 May 1868, he was commissioned an ensign in the [[North Midland Divisional Engineers|27th Staffordshire Rifle Volunteer Corps]],<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=23382 |page=2931 |date=22 May 1868}}</ref> and was promoted from lieutenant to captain on 19 August 1874.<ref>{{London Gazette | issue=24123 |page=4074 | date=18 August 1874}}</ref> Later promoted to major in the 1st Volunteer Battalion of the [[South Staffordshire Regiment]], he resigned his commission on 20 December 1884.<ref>{{London Gazette | issue=25424 |page=5874 | date=19 December 1884}}</ref>
He played [[first-class cricket]] for [[Marylebone Cricket Club]] in 1877,<ref name="cricketarchive">{{Cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/30/30990/30990.html|title=The Home of CricketArchive|website=cricketarchive.com}}</ref> and was a county cricketer for [[Shropshire County Cricket Club|Shropshire]] between 1869 and 1871, and for [[Staffordshire County Cricket Club|Staffordshire]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Percival|first=Tony|title=Shropshire Cricketers 1844-1998|year=1999|publisher=A.C.S. Publications, Nottingham|pages=19, 47|isbn=1-902171-17-9}}Published under Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians.</ref>
He became one of the first vice-presidents of the [[Kent County Football Association]] in 1884.
==Political career==
Legge entered Parliament in 1878 as Member of Parliament for [[West Kent (UK Parliament constituency)|West Kent]], a seat he held until the constituency was split in 1885,<ref name="thepeerage.com"/><ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090810231424/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Kcommons1.htm leighrayment.com House of Commons: Keighley to Kilkenny]}}</ref> when he was elected to the new constituency of [[Lewisham (UK Parliament constituency)|Lewisham]].<ref name="thepeerage.com"/><ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090810231636/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Lcommons2.htm leighrayment.com House of Commons: Leicester to Lichfield]}}</ref> The same year he was sworn of the [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|Privy Council]]<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=25485 |date=30 June 1885 |page=2987 }}</ref> and made [[Vice-Chamberlain of the Household]] in [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|Lord Salisbury's]] [[Conservative Government 1885–1886|first administration]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=25485 |date=30 June 1885 |page=3000 }}</ref> The Conservatives fell from power in January 1886 but returned to office under Salisbury already in July of the same year, when Dartmouth was once again appointed Vice-Chamberlain of the Household,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=25615 |date=10 August 1886 |page=3853 }}</ref> a post he retained until 1891. He left the [[British House of Commons|Commons]] in August 1891 on succeeding his father's titles.<ref name="thepeerage.com"/>
In October of the same year he was also appointed [[Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire]] (succeeding his father),<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=26216 |date=23 October 1891 |page=5523 }}</ref> which he remained until 1927.<ref name="thepeerage.com"/> He was also an Alderman of the [[Staffordshire County Council]] and a [[justice of the peace]] for both [[Staffordshire]] and [[Shropshire]].<ref name="thepeerage.com"/> In July 1901 he was appointed an additional member of the [[Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27340 |date=2 August 1901 |page=5125}}</ref>
Lord Dartmouth was honorary Colonel of the 5th volunteer battalion of the [[South Staffordshire Regiment]] from 1891, and of the 46th North Midland Divisional Train of the [[Royal Army Service Corps]] from 1908 to 1928, a period including the [[First World War]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed and Official Classes|year=1934|page=538}}</ref> for which he was appointed a [[Order of the Bath|KCB]] in 1917. On his retirement, he was made a [[Royal Victorian Order|GCVO]] in 1928. He was appointed Provincial Grand Master for the Masonic Province of Staffordshire 1919.
==Family==
Lord Dartmouth married Lady Mary, fourth daughter of the [[Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester]], on 18 December 1879. They had five children:
*[[William Legge, 7th Earl of Dartmouth|William Legge, Viscount Lewisham]] (1881–1958), later 7th Earl of Dartmouth.
*The Hon. Captain Gerald Legge (1882–1915), killed during the [[landing at Suvla Bay]] on 9 August 1915 whilst serving with the 7th Bn. [[South Staffordshire Regiment]]. He is commemorated on the [[Helles Memorial]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/690296/legge,-the-hon.-gerald/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201043930/https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/690296/legge,-the-hon.-gerald/ |archive-date=1 December 2017 |title=Casualty}}</ref> He was a well-known [[ornithologist]].<ref> {{cite web |url=https://britishbirds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/article_files/V09/V09_N07/V09_N07_P177_179_A034.pdf |title=British Ornithologists in the Roll of Honour}}</ref>
*Lady Dorothy Legge [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] (1883–1974), Justice of the Peace for Staffordshire, married Colonel Francis Meynell (grandson of [[Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax]]).
*[[Humphry Legge, 8th Earl of Dartmouth|The Hon. Humphry Legge]] (1888–1962), later 8th Earl of Dartmouth.
*[[Lady Joan Margaret Legge]] (1885–1939), Justice of the Peace for Staffordshire, [[botanist]], died in India.
The Countess of Dartmouth, who was made a [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]] in 1920, died in December 1929.<ref name="thepeerage.com"/> Lord Dartmouth survived her by seven years and died at [[Patshull Hall]], Staffordshire,<ref name="cricketarchive"/> in March 1936, aged 84. He was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son, [[William Legge, 7th Earl of Dartmouth|William]].<ref name="thepeerage.com"/>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://thepeerage.com/p1361.htm#i13605 1893 photograph of Lord Dartmouth at thepeerage.com]
== External links ==
* {{hansard-contribs | viscount-lewisham | the Earl of Dartmouth }}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef | before = [[Charles Mills, 1st Baron Hillingdon|Sir Charles Mills, Bt]]<br />[[John Gilbert Talbot]] }}
{{s-ttl
| title = Member of Parliament for [[West Kent (UK Parliament constituency)|West Kent]]
| years = [[1878 West Kent by-election|1878]]–[[1885 United Kingdom general election|1885]]
| with  = [[Charles Mills, 1st Baron Hillingdon|Sir Charles Mills, Bt]] 1868–1885
}}
{{s-non | reason = Constituency split }}
{{s-new | constituency}}
{{s-ttl
| title = Member of Parliament for [[Lewisham (UK Parliament constituency)|Lewisham]]
| years = [[1885 United Kingdom general election|1885]]–[[1891 Lewisham by-election|1891]]
}}
{{s-aft | after=[[John Penn (MP)|John Penn]]}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box | title=[[Vice-Chamberlain of the Household]] | before=[[Lord Charles Bruce]] | after=[[Frederick Lambart, 9th Earl of Cavan|Viscount Kilcoursie]] | years=1885–1886}}
{{succession box | title=[[Vice-Chamberlain of the Household]] | before=[[Frederick Lambart, 9th Earl of Cavan|Viscount Kilcoursie]] | after=[[Brownlow Cecil, 4th Marquess of Exeter|Lord Burghley]] | years=1886–1891}}
{{s-hon}}
{{succession box | title=[[Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire]] | before=[[William Legge, 5th Earl of Dartmouth|The Earl of Dartmouth]] | after=[[John Ryder, 5th Earl of Harrowby|The Earl of Harrowby]] | years=1891–1927}}
{{s-reg|gb}}
{{succession box | title=[[Earl of Dartmouth]] | before=[[William Legge, 5th Earl of Dartmouth|William Legge]] | after=[[William Legge, 7th Earl of Dartmouth|William Legge]] | years=1891–1936}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dartmouth, William Legge, 6th Earl of}}
[[Category:1851 births]]
[[Category:1936 deaths]]
[[Category:South Staffordshire Regiment officers]]
[[Category:Earls of Dartmouth|6]]
[[Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford]]
[[Category:English justices of the peace]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]]
[[Category:Lord-lieutenants of Staffordshire]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies|Lewisham, William Legge, Viscount]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1874–1880|Lewisham, William Legge, Viscount]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1880–1885|Lewisham, William Legge, Viscount]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1885–1886|Lewisham, William Legge, Viscount]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1886–1892|Lewisham, William Legge, Viscount]]
[[Category:UK MPs who inherited peerages]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:English cricketers]]
[[Category:Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers]]
[[Category:Legge family|William]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club]]
[[Category:Military personnel from the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
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