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Joseph Yorke, 1st Baron Dover

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General Joseph Yorke, 1st Baron Dover KB, PC (24 June 1724 – 2 December 1792), styled The Honourable Joseph Yorke until 1761 and The Honourable Sir Joseph Yorke between 1761 and 1788, was a British soldier, diplomat and Whig politician.

Background

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Margaret Yorke was Joseph's mother.

Yorke was the third son of Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, by Margaret, daughter of Charles Cocks. Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, Charles Yorke and James Yorke were his brothers.[1]

Career

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Yorke was commissioned an ensign in the 2nd Regiment of Foot Guards on 25 April 1741, and was promoted to lieutenant in the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards on 24 April 1743.[2] Yorke served in the War of the Austrian Succession as an aide-de-camp to the Duke of Cumberland, and fought in the Battle of Fontenoy on 11 May 1745. On 27 May, he became captain and lieutenant-colonel, commanding a company in the 2nd Guards. On 1 November 1749, he was appointed an aide-de-camp to the King, and on 18 March 1755, colonel of the 9th Regiment of Foot.[2] He became a Major-General in 1758, a Lieutenant-General in 1760 and a full General in 1777.

In 1749 he was appointed Secretary to the British Embassy in Paris. Two years later he became Minister Plenipotentiary to the United Provinces, a post he held for the next thirty years. He was involved in the Anglo-Prussian Convention in 1758.[3] His post was upgraded to that of ambassador in 1761.[1] During this period he also sat in the House of Commons for East Grinstead between 1751 and 1761,[1][4] for Dover between 1761 and 1774[1][5] and for Grampound between 1774 and 1780.[1][6] He was appointed a Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath (KB) in 1761 and sworn of the Privy Council in 1768.[1] In 1788 he was raised to the peerage as Lord Dover, Baron of the Town and Port of Dover, in the County of Kent.[7]

Family

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Joseph Yorke memorial, St Andrew's Church, Wimpole, Cambridgeshire

Lord Dover married Christiana Charlotte Margaret, daughter of Johan Henrik, Baron de Stöcken, a Danish nobleman, in 1783. They had no children. He died in December 1792, aged 68, when the barony became extinct. Lady Dover only survived her husband by three months and died in March 1793.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g thepeerage.com General Joseph Yorke, 1st and last Lord Dover, Baron of the Town and Port of Dover
  2. ^ a b Mackinnon, Daniel (1833). Origin and Services of the Coldstream Guards. Vol. II. London: Richard Bentley. pp. 482–483.
  3. ^ Lord Bute, Newcastle, Prussia, and the Hague Overtures: A Re-Examination by Karl W. Schweizer
  4. ^ "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Ealing to Elgin". Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Dover to Dulwich and West Norwood". Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ^ "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Gorbals to Guildford". Archived from the original on 5 November 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ "No. 13024". The London Gazette. 9 September 1788. p. 437.
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Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for East Grinstead
1751–1761
With: Sir Whistler Webster 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Dover
1761–1774
With: Sir Edward Simpson 1761–1765
Marquess of Lorne 1765–1766
John Bindley 1766–1768
Viscount Villiers 1768–1770
Sir Thomas Hales, Bt 1770–1773
Thomas Barret 1773–1774 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Grampound
1774–1780
With: Richard Neville 		Succeeded by
Military offices
Preceded by Colonel of the 9th Regiment of Foot
1755–1758 		Succeeded by
Colonel of the 8th Regiment of Dragoons
1758–1760 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Colonel of the 5th Regiment of Dragoons
1760–1787 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Colonel of the 11th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons
1787–1789 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Life Guards
1789–1792 		Succeeded by
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Minister Plenipotentiary to the United Provinces
1751–1761 		Office upgraded to Ambassador to the United Provinces
Preceded by
Minister Plenipotentiary to the United Provinces
 Ambassador to the United Provinces
1761–1781 		No representation due to Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
Peerage of Great Britain
New creation Baron Dover
1788–1792 		Extinct
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