Francis Dashwood, 15th Baron le Despencer

The Right Honourable Francis Dashwood 15th Baron le Despencer
2nd Postmaster-General
In office 1765 – 1781
Prime Minister	Various
Preceded by	The Earl of Bessborough
Succeeded by	The Viscount Barrington
Master of the Great Wardrobe
In office 1763 – 1765
Monarch	George III
Preceded by	The Earl Gower
Succeeded by	The Earl of Ashburnham
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office 1762 – 1763
Prime Minister	The Earl of Bute
Preceded by	The Viscount Barrington
Succeeded by	George Grenville
Treasurer of the Chamber
In office 1761 – 1762
Preceded by	Charles Townshend
Succeeded by	Sir Gilbert Elliot
Member of Parliament for New Romney
In office 1741 – 1761
Preceded by	Sir Robert Austen
Succeeded by	Thomas Knight
Personal details
Born	December 1708 London, England
Died	11 December 1781(1781-12-11) (aged 73)
Nationality	British
Political party	Tory
Alma mater	Eton College

Francis Dashwood, 15th Baron le Despencer (December 1708 – 11 December 1781) was an English rake and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (1762–1763) and founder of the Hellfire Club.

Biography

Early life

He was born in London, and educated at Eton College where he became associated with William Pitt the Elder. He was orphaned in 1724 at the age of 16. In 1726 he went on a Grand Tour of Europe becoming one of the first Britons to include Russia on his itinerary.

He was too young to have been a member of the very first Hellfire Club founded by the Duke of Wharton in 1719 and disbanded in 1721 but he and the Earl of Sandwich are alleged to have been members of a Hellfire Club that met at the George and Vulture Inn throughout the 1730s.

In 1732 he formed a dining club called the Society of Dilettanti with around 40 charter members (some of whom may have been members of Wharton’s original club) who had returned from the Grand Tour with a greater appreciation of classical art. William Hogarth drew Sir Francis Dashwood at his Devotions for dilettante Viscount Boyne.

Marriage

On 19 December 1745, he married Lady Sarah Ellys (née Gould) (d. 19 January 1769), the widow of Sir Richard Ellys, 2nd Baronet.

Early political career

In 1741 he was elected Member of Parliament for New Romney and subsequently abandoning his earlier Jacobite sympathies he joined the court of Frederick, Prince of Wales and sponsored alleged spy-master Lord Melcombe’s membership of the Dilettanti.

In 1744 he and fellow Dilettante the Earl of Sandwich founded the short-lived Divan Club for those who had visited the Ottoman Empire to share their experiences, but this club was disbanded two years later.

In 1747 he introduced a poor-relief bill that recommended commissioning public works, such as the caves he later had excavated at West Wycombe Park, to combat unemployment, but it failed to pass.

The Hellfire Club

Dashwood leased Medmenham Abbey on the Thames from his friend, Francis Duffield in 1751 and had it rebuilt by the architect Nicholas Revett in the style of the 18th century Gothic revival, at this time, the motto Fait ce que voudras was placed above a doorway in stained glass, and it is thought that Hogarth may have executed murals for this building; none, however, survive.

The first meeting of the group known facetiously as Brotherhood of St. Francis of Wycombe, Order of Knights of West Wycombe was held at Sir Francis' family home in West Wycombe on Walpurgis Night in 1752.

According to the 1779 book Nocturnal Revels, on the Grand Tour he had visited various religious seminaries, "founded, as it were, in direct contradiction to Nature and Reason; on his return to England, [he] thought that a burlesque Institution in the name of St Francis, would mark the absurdity of such Societies; and in lieu of the austerities and abstemiousness there practised, substitute convivial gaiety, unrestrained hilarity, and social felicity."

The initial meeting was something of a failure and the club subsequently moved their meetings to Medmenham Abbey (about 6 miles from West Wycombe) where they called themselves the Monks of Medmenham.

For his activities in the Hellfire Club, he was in his day widely regarded as being involved in devil worship.

Later political career

He was appointed Treasurer of the Chamber in 1761 and Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1762 but was forced to resign the following year after announcing an unpopular budget and subsequently served as Master of the Great Wardrobe After leaving that post, the Barony of le Despencer was called out of abeyance for him (in right of his mother Mary, eldest daughter of 4th Earl of Westmorland).

From 1765 until his death he served as joint Postmaster General. During this time he met and befriended Benjamin Franklin, his opposite number in the North American colonies, and agreeing that church services were too long, the two produced an anonymous Abridgement of the Book of Common Prayer in 1773.

He also served as an honorary vice president of London's charitable Foundling Hospital from 1777 until his death.

Family

Francis Dashwood's father, Sir Francis Dashwood, 1st Baronet, married four times; his second wife was Mary, the eldest daughter of Vere Fane, 4th Earl of Westmorland, Baron Le Despencer and Burghersh. Francis and Mary had two children: a son Francis and a daughter Rachael. Sir Francis also had two surviving daughters from his first marriage, and two daughters and two sons from his third. So Francis Dashwood had a sister Rachael, and six half siblings.

When the 7th Earl of Westmorland died childless, the Earldom of Westmorland passed to Thomas Fane a direct male descendent of the 1st Earl. The title of Baron le Despencer, passed through Mary to Francis.

Portrayal in popular culture

Portrait by William Hogarth from the late 1750s, parodying Renaissance images of Francis of Assisi. The bible has been replaced by a copy of the erotic novel Elegantiae Latini sermonis, and the profile of his friend Lord Sandwich peers from the halo.

Literature

Francis Dashwood has appeared in literary works by the following authors:

• Charles Brockden Brown in his 1798 novel Wieland describes the character Carwin as "specious seducer Dashwood."[1]
• Robert Anton Wilson in his 1975 The Illuminatus! Trilogy and 1980-81 Schrödinger's Cat Trilogy.
• James Herbert in the 1994 novel The Ghosts of Sleath.
• Eddie Campbell in the 1994 four-issue story arc Warped Notions for the comic book Hellblazer.
• Kathy Reichs in the 2001 Novel Fatal Voyage.
• Carrie Bebris in her 2005 Regency novel Suspense and Sensibility.
• Mike Carey in the 2006 four-issue story arc Reasons to Be Cheerful for the comic book Hellblazer.
• Kage Baker in her 2007 short story "Hellfire at Twilight".
• Tom Knox in the 2009 novel The Genesis Secret.
• Diana Gabaldon in her 1998 short story Lord John and the Hellfire Club. The story was originally published in Past Poisons: An Ellis Peters Memorial Anthology of Historic Crime, edited by Maxim Jakubowski. Because of the character Lord John's popularity, Gabaldon reworked the story to be included with a set of Lord John novellas, in total being published as Lord John and the Hand of Devils.

Music

• Received a name check from Vivian Stanshall at the end of side two of the original recording of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, as found in the Mike Oldfield Boxed collection (Virgin Records - CDBOX1).
• The Inkubus Sukkubus song 'Hell-Fire' from the album Vampyre Erotica mentions him, the motto Do What Thou Will, and Breast of Venus.

Film and TV

• Appears in the anime Le Chevalier D'Eon as the leader of a powerful cult - the Revolutionary Order - based in Medmenham Abbey, Medmenham, England, that seeks to manipulate Europeon powers using magical powers latent in the biblical Book of Psalms.

See also

• Dashwood Baronets
• Baron le Despencer
• West Wycombe Caves
• West Wycombe Park

References

• Ashe, Geoffrey (2000). The Hell-Fire Clubs: A History of Anti-Morality. Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-2402. 
• BBC staff (2003). "Sir Francis's Folly". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/heritage/england/beds_herts_bucks/article_1.shtml. Retrieved January 19, 2009. 
• Debrett, John, ed. (1820). Debrett's Correct Peerage of England, Scotland, and Ireland. 1 (13 ed.). London: Printed G. Woodall, Angel Court, Skinner Street. 
• Edmondson, Joseph (1785). The present peerages: with plates of arms, and an introduction to heraldry ; together with several useful lists incident to the work. Printed for J. Dodsley. 
• Woodland, Patrick (2004). "Dashwood, Francis, eleventh Baron Le Despencer (1708–1781)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/7179. 

Attribution

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Debrett's Correct Peerage of England, Scotland, and Ireland" by John Debrett

External links

Biography

• Sir Francis Dashwood (1708- 1781) by George Knowles at controverscial.com

The Hellfire Club

• The Hell-Fire Clubs from the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon
• The 'Hell Fire Club' by Marjie Bloy, Ph.D. at The Victorian Web
• The Hellfire Club by Mike Howard at Talking Stick
• Francis Dashwood of the English Hellfire Club
• The Lives & Times of the Hell-Fire Club

Other

• High politics and Hellfire: William Hogarth’s portrait of Francis Dashwood by Robin Simon editor of The British Art Journal
• Photographs of Dashwood's tunnels in West Wycombe

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Stephen Bisse Sir Robert Austen	Member of Parliament for New Romney 1741–1761 With: Henry Furnese 1741–1756 Rose Fuller 1756–1761	Succeeded by Sir Edward Dering Thomas Knight
Preceded by Welbore Ellis Lord John Cavendish George Bubb Dodington John Tucker	Member of Parliament for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis 1761–1763 With: John Tucker Richard Glover John Olmius 1761–1762 Richard Jackson 1762–1763	Succeeded by John Tucker Richard Glover Richard Jackson Charles Walcott
Political offices
Preceded by The Viscount Barrington	Chancellor of the Exchequer 1762–1763	Succeeded by George Grenville
Preceded by The Earl of Bessborough	2nd Postmaster-General 1765–1781	Succeeded by The Viscount Barrington
Court offices
Preceded by Charles Townshend	Treasurer of the Chamber 1761–1762	Succeeded by Sir Gilbert Elliot
Preceded by The Earl Gower	Master of the Great Wardrobe 1763–1765	Succeeded by The Earl of Ashburnham
Honorary titles
Preceded by The Earl Temple	Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire 1763–1781	Succeeded by The Earl of Chesterfield
Peerage of England
In abeyance Title last held by John Fane	Baron le Despencer 1763–1781	In abeyance Title next held by Thomas Stapleton
Baronetage of Great Britain
Preceded by Francis Dashwood	Baronet (of West Wycombe) 1724–1781	Succeeded by John Dashwood-King