Nicholas Lechmere, 1st Baron Lechmere
Nicholas Lechmere, 1st Baron Lechmere PC (5 August 1675 – 18 June 1727) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1708 to 1721. He served as Attorney-General and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Life
Lechmere was the second son of Edmund Lechmere of Hanley Castle, Worcestershire, and the younger brother of Anthony Lechmere, MP. He was educated at Merton College, Oxford and called to the bar as a member of Middle Temple in 1698. He took silk in 1708. [1] He made a profitable career as a lawyer, where he had inherited the abilities of his grandfather Sir Nicholas Lechmere. [2]
Lechmere entered Parliament at the 1708 general election as Member for Appleby. He was returned MP for Cockermouth in 1710 and at Tewkesbury at a by-election on 12 June 1717. He opposed the Tory ministry’s peace policy after 1710 and supported Dissenters’ rights. During Queen Anne's reign he was known as a spokesman of the Whigs. He was one of the authors who drafted legislation concerning Scotland in January 1710.
In 1714 Lechmere was appointed Solicitor-General and made a Reader at the Inn. The following year he became Treasurer. In 1718, he was appointed Attorney-General and also became a Privy Counsellor and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. On 4 September 1721, having ceased to be attorney-general, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Lechmere of Evesham in the County of Worcester.[3]
Lechmere was also a collaborator with Richard Steele on his pamphlet The Crisis.[1]
Lechmere died from a sudden attack of apoplexy, while seated at table, at Campden House, Kensington, on 18 June 1727, and was buried at Hanley Castle, where there is a tablet inscribed to his memory. [1]
Family
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He married Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, but they had no children and his title became extinct on his death in 1727.
References
- 1 2 3 Walford 1892.
- ↑ "LECHMERE, Nicholas (1675-1727), of the Middle Temple". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 15 Jan 2018.
- ↑ "No. 5984". The London Gazette. 22 August 1721. p. 1.
External links
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
- Burke's Extinct Peerage (London: Henry Colburn & Richard Bentley, 1831)
- LECHMERE, Nicholas (1675-1727), of the Middle Temple
Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1690-1715, ed. D. Hayton, E. Cruickshanks, S. Handley, 2002 Available from Boydell and Brewer
- Hutchinson, John (2003). A Catalogue of Notable Middle Templars: With Brief Biographical Notices. The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd, Clark, New Jersey. p. 143. ISBN 1-58477-323-5.
- Attribution
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by James Grahme William Harvey |
Member of Parliament for Appleby 1708–1710 With: Edward Duncombe |
Succeeded by Edward Duncombe Thomas Lutwyche |
| Preceded by James Stanhope Albemarle Bertie |
Member of Parliament for Cockermouth 1710–1717 With: James Stanhope 1710–1713 Joseph Musgrave 1713–1715 James Stanhope 1715–1717 Sir Thomas Pengelly 1717 |
Succeeded by Sir Thomas Pengelly Lord Percy Seymour |
| Preceded by William Dowdeswell Anthony Lechmere |
Member of Parliament for Tewkesbury 1717–1721 With: William Dowdeswell |
Succeeded by William Dowdeswell The Viscount Gage |
| Peerage of Great Britain | ||
| New creation | Baron Lechmere 1721–1727 |
Extinct |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Sir Robert Raymond |
Solicitor-General 1714–1715 |
Succeeded by John Fortescue Aland |
| Preceded by Sir Edward Northey |
Attorney-General 1718–1720 |
Succeeded by Sir Robert Raymond |
| Preceded by The Earl of Scarbrough |
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1718–1727 |
Succeeded by The Duke of Rutland |
