George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton
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George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton PC (January 17, 1709 – August 24, 1773), known as Sir George Lyttelton, Baronet between 1751 and 1756, was a British politician and statesman and a patron of the arts. He was one of the politicians who opposed Robert Walpole as a member (one of Cobham's Cubs) of the Whig Opposition the 1730s. He served as secretary to Frederick, Prince of Wales from 1737,[1] and as a Commissioner of the Treasury in 1744. After Walpole's fall, Lyttelton became Chancellor of the Exchequer (1755). He was a friend and supporter to Alexander Pope in the 1730s and to Henry Fielding in the 1750s. James Thomson addresses him throughout his poem The Seasons, and Lyttelton arranged a pension for Thomson.
He wrote Dialogues of the Dead in 1760 with Elizabeth Montagu, leader of the bluestockings, and The History of the Life of Henry the Second (1767–1771). The former work is part of a tradition of such dialogues. Henry Fielding dedicated Tom Jones to him.
George Lyttelton spent many years and a fortune developing Hagley Hall and its park which contains many follies. The hall itself, which is in north Worcestershire, was designed by Sanderson Miller and is the last of the great Palladian houses to be built in England.
He was succeeded by his eldest son Thomas Lyttelton, 2nd Baron Lyttelton.
[edit] References
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page
- Burkes Peerage and Baronetage (1939), s.v. Cobham, Viscount
[edit] External links
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by James Pelham |
Secretary to Frederick, Prince of Wales 1727-1744 |
Succeeded by Henry Drax |
| Preceded by The Earl of Lincoln |
Cofferer of the Household 1754–1756 |
Succeeded by The Duke of Leeds |
| Preceded by Henry Bilson Legge |
Chancellor of the Exchequer 1755–1756 |
Succeeded by Henry Bilson Legge |
| Peerage of Great Britain | ||
| New creation | Baron Lyttelton 1756–1773 |
Succeeded by Thomas Lyttelton |
| Baronetage of England | ||
| Preceded by Thomas Lyttelton |
Baronet (of Frankley) 1751–1773 |
Succeeded by Thomas Lyttelton |
