Sir George Lee was the fifth son of Sir Thomas Lee, of Hartwell, in Buckinghamshire, Bart., by Alice, daughter and heir of Mr. Hopkins, of London, merchant; and youngest brother to the late Lord Chief Justice Lee. He represented the borough of Brackley in the seventh, eighth, and ninth Parliaments of Great Britain, and on the 16th of December, 1741, was elected Chairman of the Committee of Elections in the honourable House of Commons by a majority of two only against Giles Earle, Esq.; and upon the change of the Ministry in March following, was appointed a Lord of the Admiralty, which vacating his seat in Parliament, he was in July following chosen for Devizes. In the tenth Parliament he served for Leskard, in Cornwall.
Upon the establishment of the Princess of Wales’s Household, he was in April, 1751, appointed Treasurer to her Royal Highness, which he resigned in the year 1757.
In December, 1751, on the decease of Dr. John Bettesworth, he was appointed, by Archbishop Herring, Dean of the Arches, and Judge of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, and in February following his Majesty was pleased to confer upon him the honour of Knighthood.
[94] James, Earl Waldegrave, one of the Lords of the Bedchamber.
[95] Eleonora D’Esmurs, daughter of Alexander D’Olbreuse, a private French gentleman, was married to George William, Duke of Zelle, father of Sophia Dorothea, wife of King George the First.
[96] William Pitt, younger brother of Thomas Pitt, of Boconnok, in Cornwall, was originally a Cornet of Horse, and broke by Sir R. Walpole at the time of the Excise, when his kinsman, Lord Cobham, lost his regiment for opposing that scheme. He was then made Groom of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales. The old Duchess of Marlborough left him ten thousand pounds, and her grandson, Mr. Spencer, entailed the Sunderland estate upon him after his own son. When Sir Robert Walpole resigned, and Mr. Pulteney was created an Earl, Mr. Pitt said, “He now knew his place in the House of Commons.” He continued in Opposition, and distinguished himself greatly against the Hanover troops, and personally against Lord Granville, till the fall of that Minister. On the coalition, he pretended to desire nothing for himself; but as soon as his junto were placed in good employments, he began opposing again, till in a very short time he was made Vice Treasurer of Ireland, and was designed for Secretary at War, which the King (at the instance of Lord Bath) refusing to make him, occasioned the revolution of three days in 1746; soon after which he was made Paymaster of the Forces on the death of Mr. Winnington, the King persisting in not letting him have any place that could give him the entrée of his closet.
[97] Henry Fox, only brother to Lord Ilchester, had been bred a Tory, and was voted, upon a petition, out of one of Sir Robert Walpole’s Parliaments; but being reconciled to the principles of the Court, by the friendship of his brother with Lord Hervey, to whom Mr. Fox was second in his duel with Mr. Pulteney, he was made Surveyor of the Works, and on Mr. Pelham succeeding to the head of the Treasury, Mr. Fox was made a Commissioner of that board, and was at this time Secretary at War.
[98] He had been Aide-de-camp to the Duke of Marlborough, and a Colonel of Foot, but was obliged to sell his regiment when his Patron was disgraced. On the accession of the Hanover family, he was made Comptroller of the Customs, then Groom of the Bedchamber to the present King, Treasurer to the Queen, and on the resignation of Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, Paymaster of the Marines. He died at the end of the year 1751.
[99] Henry, a younger son of Allen, Lord Bathurst.
[100] January 6, 1769.—Yesterday died at his house in St. James’s Street, his Grace Charles Sackville, Duke of Dorset, in the 58th year of his age. His Grace received the first rudiments of his education at Westminster School, in which he was introduced by the late celebrated Prior, and there gave strong indication of genius. The Duke afterwards visited France and Italy, with the latter of which countries he was particularly delighted, being accompanied by the late learned and very benevolent Mr. Spence, who cherished the love which his Grace naturally bore to the Polite Arts. At his return from his travels, he encouraged learning and learned men. The Duke was honoured with the esteem and affection of the late much-lamented Prince Frederick, and it was thought that his Grace would have made a very considerable figure in the State. He was skilled not only in the learned languages, but also in the modern. He had not the talent of speaking in public, so was not distinguished in the House of Commons; but he was a fine prose writer, of which (among other pieces) his Treatise concerning the Militia is a proof. Some few printed specimens of his poetry show his happy talent for that engaging art; and especially the manuscript pieces left behind him, which, it is hoped, will not be lost to the world. The Duke had laboured, during many years, under a complication of distempers, and was carried off in a fit. The excruciating pains with which he had been long afflicted made life uncomfortable; however, those who were acquainted with his former days, image to themselves the learned, the polite, and entertaining companion, whose affability was very attractive, as it threw off (in his presence) all distinction, that of superior merit excepted. But, alas! sickness, disgust, and disappointment, are apt to sour the sweetest dispositions.—(Public Journals.)