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George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton


(b. Jan. 17, 1709, St James's, Westminster, London – d. Aug. 22, 1773, Hagley Hall, Hagley, Worcestershire )

Gender: M

George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton (1709-1773), was MP for Okehampton from 1735-1756. He was a member of the Whig opposition to Robert Walpole and after Walpole’s fall in 1755, was for a year Chancellor of the Exchequer. He married Lucy Fortescue, who died in 1747, and then Elizabeth Rich, who died in 1749. He built Hagley Hall in Worcestershire, which is still occupied by the Lyttelton family.Lyttelton was a close friend of Elizabeth Montagu, and in 1760 they published together the Dialogues of the Dead, in which twenty-five dialogues were contributed by Lyttelton and three by Montagu. His History of the Life of Henry the Second was not published until 1767-1771; Dr Johnson spoke of it disparagingly in his Lives of the Poets (1779-1781), which offended Montagu and led to a rift between her and Johnson.

Also known as:

  • George Lyttelton
  • 1st Baron Lyttelton
  • Sir George Lyttelton

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Please note that all dates and location information are provisional, initially taken from the library and archive catalogues. As our section editors continue to work through the material we will update our database and the changes will be reflected across the edition.

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