Sir William Hodges, 1st Baronet

Sir William Hodges, 1st Baronet (c. 1645–1714), of Winchester Street, London, was an English merchant and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1705 to 1710.

Early life

Sir William Hodges, 1st Baronet, 1715 portrait by John Smith after Godfrey Kneller

Hodges was the son of John Hodges of Cotherstock or Cotterstock, Northamptonshire. His father died in 1665. He married by licence on 25 April 1681, Sarah Hall, daughter of Joseph Hall, merchant, of London and Ballasore, Bengal.[1] He resided in 1681 in Mincing Lane.

Career

Hodges acquired a fortune in the Spanish trade, and was in partnership at Cadiz with Christopher Hague, Ellis Terrell, and the Hon. Henry Bertie, according to his will. During the Nine Years' War he extended credit to the government, accepting a bill for £300,000, for the use of the English fleet under the command of Admiral Edward Russell.[2] He was created baronet on 31 March 1697.[1]

Hodges became a director of the Bank of England in 1703. He was returned as a Whig Member of Parliament for Mitchell at the 1705 English general election. He was returned again at the 1708 British general election but did not stand at the 1710 British general election.[3]

Death and legacy

Hodges had a house in Winchester Street, near Austin Friars when he died on 31 July 1714. He was buried on 6 August at St Katherine Coleman in Fenchurch Street. James Peller Malcolm describes his funeral, which was of unusual grandeur, with forty-two noblemen's coaches following the procession.[2] He had an only son, Joseph, who succeeded to the baronetcy. Lady Hodges died in 1717.[3]

Notes

  1. Cokayne, George Edward, ed. (1904), Complete Baronetage volume 4 (1665-1707), 4, Exeter: William Pollard and Co, retrieved 2 February 2019
  2. Lee, Sidney, ed. (1891). "Hodges, William (1645?-1714)" . Dictionary of National Biography. 27. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  3. "HODGES, Sir William, 1st Bt. (c.1645-1714), of Winchester Street, London". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
Parliament of England
Preceded by
Renatus Bellott
Francis Basset
Member of Parliament for Mitchell
1705–1707
With: Hugh Fortescue
Succeeded by
Parliament of Great Britain
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Parliament of England
Member of Parliament for Mitchell
1707–1710
With: Hugh Fortescue
Succeeded by
Abraham Blackmore
Richard Belasyse
Baronetage of England
Preceded by
New creation
Baronet
(of Middlesex)
1697-1714
Succeeded by
Sir Joseph Hodges, 2nd Baronet


Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1891). "Hodges, William (1645-1714)". Dictionary of National Biography. 27. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.