George Dodington, 1st Baron Melcombe

George Bubb at a young age
Caricature of George Bubb Dodington and Sir Thomas Robinson

George Bubb Dodington, 1st Baron Melcombe PC (1691 28 July 1762) was an English politician and nobleman.

Christened simply George Bubb, he changed his surname to Dodington by Act of Parliament around the time his uncle George Dodington died in 1720 and left him his estate.[1] Enormously rich, he became a friend of Frederick, Prince of Wales, who took advantage of their acquaintance to obtain loans that helped clear his debts, and, on being thrown out of St James's Palace by his father, King George II, moved into a London house belonging to Dodington. He had many contacts with artists and was a collector, purchasing antiquities via Cardinal Albani in Rome.[2] His house at Hammersmith, known as 'La Trappe' (an ironic reference to a Trappist monastery) was the focus of a lively political and cultural salon of supporters of Frederick, Prince of Wales whose palace at Kew was located just across the river. It was designed by the neo-Palladian architect Roger Morris who had been connected with the circle of Lord Burlington [3] and the sculpture gallery was designed by the Italian architect and firework display designer Giovanni Niccolo Servandoni[4]. Dodington is said to have been involved in a spy-ring, collecting valuable information about Jacobite activities. In 1761, following the accession of Frederick's son to the throne as George III, he was created Baron Melcombe.

Historian N.A.M. Rodger describes Dodington as an "indefatigable schemer" on behalf of his friends and interests of the time.[5] Dodington is depicted in William Hogarth's 1761 engraving Five Orders of Periwigs; his diary was published posthumously in 1784 by Henry Penruddocke Wyndham.

References

  1. Deed Poll Office: Private Act of Parliament 1717 (4 Geo. 1). c. 1
  2. Lewis, Lesley (1961). Connoisseurs and Secret Agents. London: Chatto and Windus.
  3. \Wolfe and Gandon (1739). Vitruvius Britannicus II. London. pp. plates 28 and 29.
  4. Hornsby, Clare (1991). "Antiquarian extravagance in Hammersmith: the sculpture gallery of George Bubb Dodington". Apollo. 133 (358 pp 410-414).
  5. Rodger, N.A.M. (1986). The Wooden World: An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. p. 31. ISBN 0870219871.
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Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Melcombe, George Bubb Doddington.
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Robert Bristow
George Dodington
Member of Parliament for Winchelsea
17151722
With: Robert Bristow
Succeeded by
Robert Bristow
Thomas Townshend
Preceded by
Thomas Palmer
William Pitt
Member of Parliament for Bridgwater
17221754
With: Thomas Palmer 17221727, 17311735
Sir Halswell Tynte, Bt 17271731
Sir Charles Wyndham, Bt 17351741
Vere Poulett 17411747
Peregrine Poulett 17471753
Robert Balch 17531754
Succeeded by
Robert Balch
The Earl of Egmont
Preceded by
Sir James Thornhill
Edward Tucker
Thomas Pearse
George Dodington
Member of Parliament for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis
17341735
With: Edward Tucker
Thomas Pearse
George Dodington
Succeeded by
Edward Tucker
Thomas Pearse
George Dodington
John Tucker
Preceded by
Sir John Ramsden, Bt
Walter Plumer
Member of Parliament for Appleby
1741
With: Sir John Ramsden, Bt
Succeeded by
Sir John Ramsden, Bt
Sir Charles Wyndham, Bt
Preceded by
Welbore Ellis
George Dodington
Edward Hungate Beaghan
Lord George Cavendish
Member of Parliament for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis
17541761
With: Welbore Ellis
Lord John Cavendish
John Tucker
Succeeded by
John Tucker
Sir Francis Dashwood, Bt
John Olmius
Richard Glover
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Lord Bingley
British Ambassador to Spain
1715-1717
Succeeded by
John Chetwynd
Political offices
Preceded by
Sir John Rushout, Bt
Treasurer of the Navy
17441749
Succeeded by
Henry Bilson-Legge
Preceded by
George Grenville
Treasurer of the Navy
1756
Succeeded by
George Grenville
Honorary titles
Preceded by
George Dodington
Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
17201744
Succeeded by
The Earl Poulett
Vice-Admiral of Somerset
17201762
Vacant
Title next held by
The Earl of Egmont
Peerage of Great Britain
New creation Baron Melcombe
1761–1762
Extinct


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