Hon. John Yorke, MP

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John Yorke, MP

Birthdate:
Birthplace: Hardwicke, Gloucestershire, England (United Kingdom)
Death: September 04, 1801 (73)
Immediate Family:

Son of Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke and Lady Margaret Cocks
Husband of Elizabeth Yorke
Father of Jemima Pole-Carew
Brother of Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke; Hon. Charles Yorke, MP; General Joseph Yorke, 1st and last Baron of Dover; Lady Elizabeth Margaret Yorke; Bishop James Yorke and 1 other

Managed by: Woodman Mark Lowes Dickinson, OBE
Last Updated:

About Hon. John Yorke, MP

Family and Education b. 27 Aug. 1728, 4th s. of Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, and bro. of Hon. Charles, Joseph and Philip Yorke. educ. Dr. Newcome’s, Hackney; Corpus Christi, Camb. 1746; L. Inn 1746, called 1754. m. 1 Jan. 1762, Elizabeth, da. of Reginald Lygon of Madresfield, Worcs., 1da.

Offices Held

Clerk of the Crown in Chancery 1746-d.; chaffwax 1752-5; patentee for commissions of bankruptcy 1755-d.; ld. of Trade 1761-3, July-Dec. 1765, of Admiralty 1765-6.

Biography At the age of 18 John Yorke and his brother, Charles, were appointed by Lord Hardwicke jointly to a life sinecure in Chancery worth £1,200 a year.1 When he was 22 his father applied through Newcastle to the King at Hanover to give him another Chancery sinecure, that of chaffwax, equivalent in value to his half share of the Crown office, so that Charles might enjoy the whole of the profits of that office. The King’s reaction was:

My Lord Chancellor is getting every office that falls in the law for his own children; but on his return to England he granted the application.2 Three years later John exchanged the office for a joint share in another Chancery place, held by the poet Cowper’s father, who died the next year, leaving John with the whole of the profits.3

He died 4 Sept. 1801.

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754 Author: Romney R. Sedgwick Notes 1. Walpole to Montagu, 5 Aug. 1746. 2. Yorke, Hardwicke, ii. 179 et seq. 3. Gent. Mag. 1755, p. 572.

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Hon. John Yorke, MP's Timeline

1728
August 27, 1728
Hardwicke, Gloucestershire, England (United Kingdom)
1763
1763
Worchester, Worchestershire, England (United Kingdom)
1801
September 4, 1801
Age 73