George Legge, 1st Baron Dartmouth

For other people of the same name, see George Legge (disambiguation).

Lord Dartmouth.

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

His father was the royalist Colonel William Legge and his mother was Elizabeth Washington (1619–1688), first cousin of Col. Sir John Washington (1633–1677), the great-grandfather of George Washington.

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, he was dismissed by the triumphant William III, and later arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London. He died in there in 1691 without ever being brought to trial.

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

See also

• Staffordshire at Sea Website

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
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