'Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, 2nd Earl Gower'
PC (
4 August 1721 –
26 October 1803) was a British politician.
Family
He was a son of
John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower and his wife Lady Evelyn Pierrepont. His maternal grandparents were
Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull and his first wife Lady Mary Feilding. Mary was a daughter of
William Feilding, 3rd Earl of Denbigh and his wife Mary King.
His father was a prominent
Tory politician who became the first major Tory to enter government since the succession of
George I of Great Britain, joining the administration of
John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville in
1742.
Career
Gower himself was educated at
Westminster School and
Christ Church, Oxford. In
1744, the younger Gower was elected to parliament. With the death of his elder brother in
1746, he became known by the courtesy title of 'Viscount Trentham' until he succeeded his father as 'Earl Gower' in
1754.
Gower was associated with the
faction of the
Duke of Bedford, who was his brother-in-law, and as a member of that faction was given many governmental positions. Following Bedford's death in
1771, Gower became leader of the group, and as
Lord President in the administration of
Frederick North, Lord North was a key supporter of a hard-line policy towards the American colonists.
Gower was frustrated by what he saw as the North administration's inept handling of the
American Revolutionary War, and he resigned from the cabinet in
1779. When North resigned in March
1782, Gower was approached to form a ministry, but he refused, and he refused subsequent overtures from both
Lord Shelburne and the
Fox-
North coalition to enter the government. Instead, he became a key figure in bringing about the fall of the Fox-North coalition, and was rewarded with the position of Lord President once again in the new administration of
William Pitt the Younger. Although he soon exchanged this office for that of
Lord Privy Seal, and gradually began to withdraw from public affairs, he remained a cabinet minister until his retirement in
1794. In
1786, he had been created 'Marquess of Stafford' as a reward for his services.
Stafford died at Trentham Hall in
1803.
Marriages and children
Stafford married three times.
★ He married first in
1744 Elizabeth Fazakerley, a daughter of Nicholas Fazakerley. Elizabeth died of
smallpox two years later.
★ In
1748 he married again to
Lady Louisa Egerton, daughter of the
Scroop Egerton, 1st Duke of Bridgewater (and Bedford's niece). She died in
1761. They were parents to four children:
★
★
George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland (
9 January,
1758 –
19 July,
1833).
★
★ Louisa Leveson-Gower (d.
29 July,
1827. She married Sir Archibald MacDonald, 1st
baronet.
★
★ Margaret Caroline Leveson-Gower (d.
27 January,
1824). She married
Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle and was mother of
George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle.
★
★ Anne Leveson-Gower (
16 November,
1832). She married
Edward Harcourt,
Archbishop of York.
★ He married a third time in
1768 to
Lady Susannah Stewart. She was a daughter
Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway. They were parents to four children:
★
★
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville (
12 October 1773–
8 January,
1846).
★
★ Georgiana Augusta Leveson-Gower (d.
24 March,
1806). She married
William Eliot, 2nd Earl of St Germans.
★
★ Charlotte Sophia Leveson-Gower (d.
12 August,
1854). She married
Henry Somerset, 6th Duke of Beaufort and was mother of
Henry Somerset, 7th Duke of Beaufort.
★
★ Susan Leveson-Gower (d.
26 May,
1838). She married
Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby.
Honours and Offices
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