William Legge, 5th Earl of Dartmouth

William Walter Legge 5th Earl of Dartmouth
Legge on a medal whose reverse is lettered "To commemorate the opening on June 3rd 1878 of Dartmouth Park The gift of the Earl of Dartmouth to the inhabitants of West Bromwich"
Born	(1823-08-12)12 August 1823
Died	4 August 1891(1891-08-04) (aged 67)
Children	William Heneage, Viscount Lewisham Hon. Henry Charles
Parent	William Legge, 4th Earl of Dartmouth

William Walter Legge, 5th Earl of Dartmouth (12 August 1823 – 4 August 1891), styled Viscount Lewisham until 1853, was a British peer and Conservative politician.^[1]

Political career

Legge was elected in 1849 as Member of Parliament (MP) for South Staffordshire and held the seat until 1853, when he succeeded his father William Legge, 4th Earl of Dartmouth. He was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Staffordshire on 9 October 1852,^[2] and Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire in 1887.

Family

The Earl married Lady Augusta Finch, daughter of Heneage Finch, 5th Earl of Aylesford, on 9 June 1846.^[3] They had two sons, William Heneage, Viscount Lewisham (1851–1936), and the Hon. Henry Charles (1852–1924), and four daughters, who died unmarried. It was the third intermarriage between the Earls of Dartmouth and Aylesford, as the first Earl had married Lady Anne Finch, daughter of Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Aylesford and also the third Earl married Lady Frances Finch, daughter of Heneage Finch, 3rd Earl of Aylesford.

He owned 20,000 acres, with most rent coming from 8,000 acres in West Yorkshire.^[4]

Military career

He raised the 27th Staffordshire Rifle Volunteer Corps at Patshull on 7 March 1860 during a French invasion scare, and commanded it in the rank of captain.^[5][6]

Legacy

In 1876, land from the Dartmouth estate was leased at Cooper's Hill for the creation of Dartmouth Park; the park was opened to the public by the Earl on 3 June 1878. In 1919, the freehold to the park was awarded to the people of West Bromwich.^[7]

Notes

1. "PEER'S CURIOUS PRIVILEGE". Goulburn Evening Penny Post. New South Wales, Australia. 6 April 1912. p. 4 (EVENING). Retrieved 3 June 2018 – via National Library of Australia. ...Dartmouth's family has a curious privilege-the right to fly the Stars and Stripes. The flag often waves over beautiful Patshull, which is described so admirably by Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler in that brilliant novel, "Concerning Isabel Carnaby." The right to fly the American flag comes to the Legges because of their kinship with George Washington. Lord Dartmouth has also some noble Italian blood in his veins. His family name of Legge was once Da Lega...
2. "No. 21366". The London Gazette. 12 October 1852. p. 2665.
3. K. D. Reynolds, 'Legge , Augusta, countess of Dartmouth (1822–1900)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 12 March 2017
4. The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland
5. Westlake, p. 216.
6. Monthly Army List.
7. Historic England. "Dartmouth Park (1001102)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 21 November 2023.

References

• Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 100th Edn, London, 1953.
• Ray Westlake, Tracing the Rifle Volunteers, Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2010, ISBN 978-1-84884-211-3.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Dartmouth

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Hon. George Anson Viscount Ingestre	Member of Parliament for South Staffordshire 1849–1853 With: Hon. George Anson 1837–1853 Hon. Edward Littleton 1853	Succeeded by Hon. Edward Littleton Earl of Uxbridge
Honorary titles
Preceded by The Lord Wrottesley	Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire 1887–1891	Succeeded by The Earl of Dartmouth
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by William Legge	Earl of Dartmouth 1853–1891	Succeeded by William Legge