Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford

Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford,

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.^[1]

Political and industrial investment career

Stafford was elected to Parliament in 1744.

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. He built the earlier Lilleshall Hall, converting a 17th-century house located in the village of Lilleshall into a country residence around the late 1750s.

Stafford was associated with the

In 1799 he (or his immediate family benefit trust) was estimated the fifth-wealthiest small family unit in Britain, owning £2.1 million (equivalent to £220 million in 2021)), having assets in land, mining and arterial canal-toll rights having speculatively invested in the latter projects, much of which was in Staffordshire's Black Country.^[2]

He died at Trentham Hall, Staffordshire, on 26 October 1803.^[1] He was the last surviving member of the Bloomsbury Gang.^[3]

Marriages and children

Stafford married three times. He married firstly

• Lady Louisa Leveson-Gower (22 Oct 1749-29 July 1827). She married
  Sir Archibald MacDonald, 1st Baronet
  .
• Lady Margaret Caroline Leveson-Gower (02 Nov 1753-27 January 1824). She married Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle and was the mother of George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle.
• George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland (9 January 1758 – 19 July 1833).
• Lady Anne Leveson-Gower (22 Feb 1761-16 November 1832). She married the Right Reverend the Hon. Edward Venables-Vernon-Harcourt, Archbishop of York.

Stafford married thirdly Lady Susanna Stewart, daughter of Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway, 23 May 1768. They were parents to four children:

• Lady Georgiana Augusta Leveson-Gower (13 Apr 1769 – 24 March 1806). She married William Eliot, 2nd Earl of St Germans.
• Lady Charlotte Sophia Leveson-Gower (11 Feb 1771; christened 12 Feb 1771 St Martin in the Fields, Westminster – 12 August 1854). She married Henry Somerset, 6th Duke of Beaufort and was mother of Henry Somerset, 7th Duke of Beaufort and Lord Granville Somerset.
• Lady Susanna Leveson-Gower (born Sep 1772; christened 15 Sep 1772 Trentham – 26 May 1838). She married Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby.
• Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville (born 12 October 1773, christened 5 Nov 1773 Trentham – 8 January 1846).

When Lord Stafford died at the age of 82, he was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son George from his second marriage who was created Duke of Sutherland in 1833. The Marchioness of Stafford died in August 1805.^[1]

References

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Barker, George Fisher Russell (1893). "Leveson-Gower, Granville (1721-1803)". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 33. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

External links

• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages