William Bagot, 1st Baron Bagot explained

Honorific Prefix:The Right Honourable
The Lord Bagot
Office:Member of Parliament for Staffordshire
Term Start:1754
Term End:1780
Alongside:William Leveson-Gower, Henry Thynne, Lord Grey of Groby, Sir John Wrottesley
Predecessor:William Leveson-Gower
Sir Walter Wagstaffe Bagot
Successor:Sir John Wrottesley
Viscount Lewisham
Birth Name:William Bagot
Birth Date:28 February 1728
Death Place:London, England
Residence:Blithfield Hall
Alma Mater:Magdalen College, Oxford
Party:Tory
Parents:Sir Walter Bagot, 5th Baronet
Lady Barbara Legge
Children:9, including William, Charles, Richard
Relations:Walter Bagot (brother)
Lewis Bagot (brother)
William Legge, 1st Earl of Dartmouth (grandfather)
Sir Edward Bagot, 4th Baronet (grandfather)

William Bagot, 1st Baron Bagot (28 February 1728 – 22 October 1798), known as Sir William Bagot, 6th Baronet, from 1768 to 1780, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1754 to 1780. He was then raised to the peerage as Baron Bagot.

Early life

Bagot was born on 28 February 1728. He was the eldest son of Sir Walter Bagot, 5th Baronet, and his wife Lady Barbara Legge. Among his siblings were Charles Bagot (who married Catherine Legge), the Rev. Walter Bagot of Pype Hayes Hall (who married Anne Swinnerton and, later, Mary Ward), Richard Bagot (who married a daughter of Viscount Andover) and the Right Reverend Lewis Bagot, Bishop of St Asaph.[1]

His paternal grandparents were Sir Edward Bagot, 4th Baronet and the former Frances Wagstaffe (daughter of Sir Thomas Wagstaffe of Tachbrook). His maternal grandparents were William Legge, 1st Earl of Dartmouth. His niece, Jane Margaret (daughter of his brother Walter by his second wife, Mary Ward) married the English judge Sir Edward Vaughan Williams in 1826 and they were the grandparents of the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.[2]

He was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, and graduated Master of Arts in 1749 and Doctor of Civil Law in 1754.

Career

Bagot then sat as a Tory Member of Parliament for Staffordshire from 1754 to 1780. In 1768, Bagot succeeded to the Baronetcy of Blithfield, Staffordshire, and to the family estate at Blithfield Hall on the death of his father.[3] [4]

On 17 October 1780 he was raised to the Peerage of Great Britain as Baron Bagot, of Bagot's Bromley in the County of Stafford.[5]

Personal life

On 20 August 1760, Bagot was married to Elizabeth St John (–1820) in Wroxham. She was the eldest daughter of John St John, 2nd Viscount St John and the former Anne Furness (only child by his first wife of Sir Robert Furnese, 2nd Baronet) and sister of Frederick St John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke and Gen. Henry St John. Together, William and Elizabeth had nine children, including:[6]

He died in London on 22 October 1798, aged 70, and was succeeded by his eldest son William. Lady Bagot died in 1820.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Bagot, William Bagot, (2nd of) . Memorials of the Bagot Family . 1824 . W. Hodgetts . Blithfield . 141 . 20 May 2020 . en. William Bagot, 2nd Baron Bagot.
  2. News: Annotated Obituary, in 'The Patrician', Vol. 2, p. 90, by John Burke, Sir Bernard Burke (published by E. Churton, 1846). 10 September 2017. Burke. John. Burke. Bernard. 1846.
  3. Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
  4. Web site: Lundy . Darryl . FAQ . The Peerage.
  5. Web site: BAGOT, William (1728–98), of Blithfield, Staffs. History of Parliament Online. 3 December 2017.
  6. Web site: Bagot, Baron (GB, 1780) . www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk . Heraldic Media Limited . 20 May 2020.