Role British Politician Name Granville 1st | Monarch George III Succeeded by The Earl Temple | |
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Prime Minister The Duke of NewcastleThe Duke of Devonshire Preceded by The Duke of Marlborough Died October 26, 1803, Trentham Estate, Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom Parents John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower Spouse Lady Susanna Stewart (m. 1768) Children George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland, Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville Similar People Granville Leveson‑Gower - 2nd Earl, William Cavendish - 5th Duke, William Pitt the Younger, John Pitt - 2nd Earl of Chatham, Francis Egerton - 7th Duke | ||
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford PC (4 August 1721 – 26 October 1803), known as Viscount Trentham from 1746 to 1754 and as The Earl Gower from 1754 to 1786, was a British politician from the Leveson-Gower family.
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Background
Stafford was a son of John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower (1694–1754) 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. Gower was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford.
Political career
In 1744, Stafford 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. Stafford 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.
He was elected F.S.A. on 28 April 1784. He died at Trentham Hall, Staffordshire, on 26 October 1803.
Marriages and children
Stafford married three times. He married firstly Elizabeth Fazakerley, daughter of Nicholas Fazakerley, in 1744. Elizabeth died of smallpox two years later. They had no children.
Stafford married secondly Lady Louisa, daughter of the Scroop Egerton, 1st Duke of Bridgewater, in 1748. She died in 1761. They were parents to four children:
Stafford married thirdly Lady Susanna, daughter of Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway, in 1768. They were parents to four children:
Lord Stafford died at Trentham Hall, Staffordshire, in October 1803, aged 82. He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son from his second marriage, George, who was created Duke of Sutherland in 1833. The Marchioness of Stafford died in August 1805.