Sir Egerton Leigh, 1st Baronet (11 October 1733 – 15 September 1781) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

jurist, who became HM Attorney-General of South Carolina. He was a Loyalist who permanently fled South Carolina in 1774 for England.

Biography

The son of Peter Leigh and Elizabeth ''née'' Latus, he was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, before emigrating to America where his father was Chief Justice of South Carolina. Leigh became a lawyer and served as a Member of Council and a Judge of the Vice-Admiralty Court, before becoming Surveyor-General of South Carolina. He was appointed Attorney-General of South Carolina by

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

in 1765 and, on 15 May 1773, was created a

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

d "of South Carolina, America". In addition to his enterprises and legal positions, Leigh was a Freemason of the Moderns Lodges, and was elected and then re-elected as Provincial Grand Master of South Carolina in 1772, with a rather large celebration in Charleston for his election. Following his adultery scandal and his continued loyalty to the Crown, his credibility was ruined and no Masonic meetings were held, and by default Leigh remained Provincial Grand Master for nine years until he was finally seceded by John Deas in 1781. In 1756 he married Martha Bremar (died 1801) and they had 13 children, including: Martha Leigh who married Nathan Garrick; Elizabeth Leigh who married Lieutenant-Colonel Friedrich Wilhelm, Baron von der Malsburg; Harriet Leigh who married Captain James Burnett, RM ; the Revd Sir Egerton Leigh, 2nd Baronet (born 1762); Sir Samuel Leigh, author of "''Munster Abbey, a Romance: Interspersed with Reflections on Virtue and Morality''" and father of Sir Samuel Egerton Leigh, 3rd Baronet (born 1796);www.burkespeerage.com
/ref> and, Thomas Leigh a plantation owner in Georgetown County, where he remained settled after the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

References

External links

''Cracroft's Peerage'' online. Accessed 9 December 2022. {{DEFAULTSORT:Leigh, Sir Egerton, 1st Baronet 1733 births 1781 deaths People from Cheshire People educated at Westminster School, London British lawyers South Carolina Attorneys General Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain

Biography

See also

References

Further reading

External links