Sir William Yonge, 4th Baronet

Sir William Yonge, 4th Baronet KCB FRS PC (c. 1693  10 August 1755), English politician, was the son of Sir Walter Yonge, and great-great-grandson of Walter Yonge of Colyton (1579–1649), whose diaries (1604–45), more especially four volumes now in the British Museum (Add. MSS. 18777–18780), are valuable material for history.

Biography

In 1722, William was elected to Parliament as member for Honiton; and he succeeded his father, the third baronet, in 1731. In the House of Commons he attached himself to the Whigs, and making himself useful to Sir Robert Walpole, was rewarded with a commissionership of the treasury in 1724. George II, who conceived a strong antipathy to Sir William, spoke of him as "Stinking Yonge"; but Yonge obtained a commissionership of the admiralty in 1728, was restored to the treasury in 1730, and in 1735 became Secretary at War. He especially distinguished himself in his defence of the government against a hostile motion by Pulteney in 1742. Making friends with the Pelhams, he was appointed vice-treasurer of Ireland in 1746; and, acting on the committee of management for the impeachment of Lord Lovat in 1747, he won the applause of Horace Walpole by moving that prisoners impeached for high treason should be allowed the assistance of counsel. In 1748 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society.

Personal

He died at Escot, near Honiton, on 10 August 1755. By his second wife, Anne, daughter and coheiress of Thomas, Lord Howard of Effingham, he had two sons and six daughters.

He enjoyed some reputation as a versifier, some of his lines being even mistaken for the work of Alexander Pope, greatly to the disgust of the latter; and he wrote the lyrics incorporated in a comic opera, adapted from Richard Brome's The Jovial Crew, which was produced at Drury Lane in 1730 and had a considerable vogue. He was a founding governor of a charity called the Foundling Hospital, which worked to alleviate the scourge of child abandonment.

References

External links

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Sir William Drake
James Sheppard
Member of Parliament for Honiton
1715–1754
With: Sir William Courtenay 1715–1716
Sir William Pole, Bt 1716–1727, 1731–1734
James Sheppard 1727–1731
William Courtenay 1734-1741
Henry Reginald Courtenay 1741–1747
John Duke 1747–1754
Succeeded by
Henry Reginald Courtenay
George Yonge
Preceded by
Arthur Arscott
George Deane
Member of Parliament for Tiverton
1727–1728
With: Arthur Arscott
Succeeded by
Arthur Arscott
James Nelthorpe
Preceded by
Arthur Arscott
Sir Dudley Ryder
Member of Parliament for Tiverton
1747
With: Sir Dudley Ryder
Succeeded by
Sir Dudley Ryder
Henry Conyngham
Preceded by
Sir Dudley Ryder
Henry Conyngham
Member of Parliament for Tiverton
1754–1755
With: Henry Pelham
Succeeded by
Henry Pelham
Thomas Ryder
Political offices
Preceded by
Sir William Strickland
Secretary at War
1735–1741
Succeeded by
Thomas Winnington
Honorary titles
Preceded by
The Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven
Custos Rotulorum of Caernarvonshire
1739–1755
Succeeded by
Sir John Wynn, Bt
Baronetage of England
Preceded by
Walter Yonge
Baronet
(of Culliton)
1731–1755
Succeeded by
George Yonge


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