Francis Dashwood, 11th Baron le Despencer,
PC,
FRS (December 1708 – 11 December 1781) was an English politician and
rake,
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...
(1762–1763) and founder of the
Hellfire Club
Hellfire Club was a term used to describe several exclusive Club (organization), clubs for high-society Rake (character), rakes established in Great Britain and Ireland in the 18th Century. The name most commonly refers to Francis Dashwood, 11t ...
.
Life and career
Early life
Dashwood was born in Great Marlborough Street, London, in December 1708. He was the only son of
Sir Francis Dashwood, 1st Baronet, and his second wife Mary, eldest daughter of
Vere Fane, 4th Earl of Westmorland.
Sir Francis and Mary had two children: a son, Francis, and a daughter, Rachael. Sir Francis also had two surviving daughters from his first marriage, and later two daughters and two sons from his third.
Dashwood was educated at
Eton College
Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
where he became associated with
William Pitt the Elder
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him "Chatham" or "Pitt the Elder" to distinguish him from his son ...
. Upon the death of his father in 1724, Dashwood, who was only fifteen, inherited his father's estates and the
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 14th ...
cy of
Dashwood of West Wycombe.
Travels
Dashwood spent his youth and early adulthood abroad, gaining a reputation for notoriety while travelling around Europe. He impersonated
Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII () or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.), was King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of ...
while in Russia and attempted to seduce
Anna Ioannovna. Dashwood was later expelled from the
Papal States
The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...
.
Dashwood's journeys abroad included classical aspects of the European
Grand Tour. He travelled to France and Germany for several months in 1726. He went abroad again from 1729 to 1731 and visited Italy during this time. He later returned to Italy between 1739 and 1741, staying in
Florence
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025.
Florence ...
and
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
and visiting
Livorno
Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...
and the excavations at
Herculaneum
Herculaneum is an ancient Rome, ancient Roman town located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under a massive pyroclastic flow in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Like the nearby city of ...
.
While in Italy he befriended the
philosopher
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
and theologian
Antonio Niccolini. In 1733, between his visits to Italy, Dashwood accompanied
George, Lord Forbes, to
St Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
, stopping on the way at
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
.
Dilettanti Society and the Divan Club
In 1732, Dashwood formed a
dining club
A dining club (UK) or eating club (US) is a Social club, social group, usually requiring membership (which may, or may not be available only to certain people), which meets for dinners and discussion on a regular basis. They may also often have g ...
called the
Society of Dilettanti
The Society of Dilettanti (founded 1734) is a British society of noblemen and scholars that sponsored the study of ancient Greek and Roman art, and the creation of new work in the style.
History
Though the exact date is unknown, the Society i ...
with around 40 charter members who had returned from their travels with an appreciation of classical art.
William Hogarth
William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraving, engraver, pictorial social satire, satirist, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from Realism (visual arts), realistic p ...
drew ''Sir Francis Dashwood at his Devotions'' for Dilettante
Viscount Boyne. "
not the actual projector and founder of the Dilettanti Society, he was certainly its leading member in 1736". Dashwood took a prominent part in the proceedings of the
Dilettanti Society, and in 1742
George Knapton painted his portrait for the Society. On 2 March 1746, when
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, Privy Council of Great Britain, PC, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (13 November 1718 – 30 April 1792) was a British politician, statesman who succeeded his grandfather Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sandwic ...
was suspended from his office of archmaster for "his misbehaviour to and contempt of the Society", Dashwood was elected in his place. Dashwood presented to
King George II various petitions from the Dilettanti Society when it was seeking a permanent location.
In 1740, Dashwood was in
Florence
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025.
Florence ...
with
Horace Walpole
Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian.
He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...
, Gray, and others, and shortly afterwards, got into trouble with
Sir Horace Mann. In 1743
Horace Walpole
Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian.
He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...
critically described the Dilettanti Society as "a club for which the nominal qualification is having been to Italy, and the real one, being drunk; the two chiefs are Lord Middlesex and Sir Francis Dashwood, who were seldom sober the whole time they were in Italy".
However, the society did increasingly have a serious side, and Dashwood's work resulted in his election as a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
(FRS) in June 1746, and a fellow of the
Society of Antiquaries of London
The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...
(FSA) in June 1769. He also became a member of the
Lincoln Club in the mid-1740s and the
Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce in 1754. He had connections with the
Spalding Society and became vice-president of both the
Foundling Hospital
The Foundling Hospital (formally the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children) was a children's home in London, England, founded in 1739 by the philanthropy, philanthropic Captain (nautical), sea captain ...
and the General Medical Asylum.

In 1744, he and John Montagu founded the short-lived
Divan Club for those who had visited the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
to share their experiences, but this club was disbanded two years later.
Politics
On Dashwood's return to England, he obtained a minor post in the household of
Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales. This connection, coupled with the dismissal of his uncle, the
Earl of Westmorland, from his colonelcy of the first troop of horse guards, made Dashwood a violent opponent of
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (; 26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the ''de facto'' first Prim ...
's administration. He sponsored
George Dodington, 1st Baron Melcombe's membership of the Dilettanti.
During the general election of 1741 Dashwood fought vigorously against Walpole's supporters and secured a seat for himself at
New Romney
New Romney is a market town in Kent, England, on the edge of Romney Marsh, an area of flat, rich agricultural land reclaimed from the sea after the harbour began to silt up. New Romney, one of the original Cinque Ports, was once a sea port, w ...
on 5 May. In Parliament he followed
Samuel Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys
Samuel Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys (10 August 1695 – 21 April 1770) was an English Whig politician and peer who represented Worcester in the British House of Commons from 1718 until 1743 when he was created Baron Sandys. He held numerous post ...
and vehemently attacked Sir Robert Walpole, declaring that abroad he was looked upon with contempt. Walpole's fall made no difference to Dashwood's position, and as a courtier of Frederick Lewis he was in opposition to all of
George II's governments.
In 1747 he introduced a poor-relief bill that recommended commissioning
public works
Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and procured by a government body for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, ...
(such as the
Hellfire Caves he later had excavated at
West Wycombe Park
West Wycombe Park is a country house built between 1740 and 1800 near the village of West Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England. It was conceived as a pleasure palace for the 18th-century libertine and dilettante Sir Francis Dashwood, 2nd Baro ...
) to combat unemployment. The bill failed.
Dashwood was re-elected for
New Romney
New Romney is a market town in Kent, England, on the edge of Romney Marsh, an area of flat, rich agricultural land reclaimed from the sea after the harbour began to silt up. New Romney, one of the original Cinque Ports, was once a sea port, w ...
on 26 June 1747, and in January 1751 disavowed
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was a political ideology advocating the restoration of the senior line of the House of Stuart to the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British throne. When James II of England chose exile after the November 1688 Glorious Revolution, ...
, of which
Andrew Stone and others of the household of
George, Prince of Wales were suspected. Dashwood supported the influence of George Dodington and opposed the Regency Bill of 15 May 1751. On 13 April 1749 he was created
Doctor of Civil Law
Doctor of Civil Law (DCL; ) is a degree offered by some universities, such as the University of Oxford, instead of the more common Doctor of Laws (LLD) degrees.
At Oxford, the degree is a higher doctorate usually awarded on the basis of except ...
of Oxford University, and on 19 June 1746 he was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
The Hellfire Club
Dashwood was too young to have been a member of the first
Hellfire Club
Hellfire Club was a term used to describe several exclusive Club (organization), clubs for high-society Rake (character), rakes established in Great Britain and Ireland in the 18th Century. The name most commonly refers to Francis Dashwood, 11t ...
, founded by
Philip, Duke of Wharton in 1719 and disbanded in 1721, but he and John Montagu are alleged to have been members of a Hellfire Club that met at the
George and Vulture Inn throughout the 1730s. It was again at the George and Vulture that in 1746 Dashwood founded the precursor of his own Hellfire Club, a group called the "Knights of St. Francis". This was a parody of a religious order, based on a pun upon his own name and that of the medieval Italian saint,
Francis of Assisi
Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone ( 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italians, Italian Mysticism, mystic, poet and Friar, Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Chris ...
.
Dashwood first had the idea of founding a parody of the Franciscan order when he returned from one of his Grand Tours, around 1731. He had visited various monastic communities in Europe, "founded, as it were, in direct contradiction to Nature and Reason", and he thought that by founding "a
burlesque
A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. Institution in the name of St Francis", he could substitute "convivial gaiety, unrestrained hilarity, and social felicity
..in lieu of the austerities and abstemiousness there practised."
In 1752, he moved the group's headquarters to his family home in
West Wycombe
West Wycombe is a small village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, famed for its manor houses and its hills. It is west of High Wycombe.
The historic village is largely a National Trust property and receives a large annual influx ...
, holding the first meeting on
Walpurgis Night
Walpurgis Night (), an abbreviation of Saint Walpurgis Night (from the German language, German ), also known as Saint Walpurga's Eve (alternatively spelled Saint Walburga's Eve) and Walpurgisnacht, is the Vigil#Eves of religious celebrations ...
. The group was now known as "the Order of the Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe". The group subsequently moved their meetings to
Medmenham Abbey, about 6 miles from West Wycombe, where they called themselves the "Monks of Medmenham".
Medmenham Abbey had been built by the
Cistercian Order
The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...
and was situated on the banks of the
Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...
near
Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Marlow ( ), historically Great Marlow or Chipping Marlow, is a town and civil parish within the Unitary Authority of Buckinghamshire, England. It is located on the River Thames, south-southwest of High Wycombe, west-northwest of Maidenhead and ...
. It was owned by Francis Duffield, from whom it was rented by Dashwood, his half-brother
Sir John Dashwood-King, his cousin Sir Thomas
Stapleton, the satirist
Paul Whitehead, and
John Wilkes
John Wilkes (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English Radicalism (historical), radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlese ...
. The men frequently went to Medmenham Abbey during the summer. They had the buildings restored by the architect
Nicholas Revett in the style of the 18th-century
Gothic revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
. Hogarth may have painted murals for this building but none survive.
The members included "
Frederick, Prince of Wales
Frederick, Prince of Wales (Frederick Louis, German: ''Friedrich Ludwig''; 31 January 1707 – 31 March 1751) was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen C ...
, the Duke of Queensberry, the Earl of Bute, Lord Melcombe, Sir William Stanhope, K.B, Sir John Dashwood-King, bart., Sir Francis Delaval, K.B., Sir John Vanluttan, kt., Henry Vansittart,
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...
..and Paul
hiteheadthe poet". Meetings occurred twice a month, with an
annual general meeting
An annual general meeting (AGM, also known as the annual meeting) is a meeting of the general membership of an organization.
These organizations include membership associations and companies with shareholders.
These meetings may be required ...
lasting a week or more in June or September.
According to
Horace Walpole
Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian.
He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...
, who visited the abbey, the members' "practice was rigorously pagan:
Bacchus
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ) by the Gre ...
and
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...
were the deities to whom they almost publicly sacrificed; and the nymphs and the
hogshead
A hogshead (abbreviated "hhd", plural "hhds") is a large Barrel (storage), cask of liquid (or, less often, of a food commercial Product (business), product) for manufacturing and sale. It refers to a specified volume, measured in either Imperial ...
s
asks of spiritsthat were laid in against the festivals of this new church, sufficiently informed the neighbourhood of the complexion of those hermits." Over the grand entrance to the abbey was placed, in stained glass, the famous inscription on
Rabelais' abbey of Theleme, "''Fay ce que voudras''"
o what thou wilt Dashwood's garden at West Wycombe contained numerous statues and shrines to different gods:
Daphne
Daphne (; ; , , ), a figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater.
There are several versions of the myth in which she appears, but t ...
and
Flora
Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...
,
Priapus
In Greek mythology, Priapus (; ) is a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens, and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his oversized, permanent erection, which gave rise to the medical term priapism. He becam ...
,
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...
and
Dionysus
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...
. The members addressed each other as "Brothers" and the leader, which changed regularly, as "Abbot". During meetings members supposedly wore ritual clothing: white trousers, jacket and cap, while the "Abbot" wore a red ensemble of the same style. Prostitutes were supposedly referred to as "nuns". Club meetings were said to have included mock rituals, items of a pornographic nature, much drinking, "wenching" and banqueting. The "monks" were said to have performed obscene parodies of Christian rites, as well as orgies of drunkenness and debauchery in which Dashwood used a communion cup to pour out libations to heathen deities. These details, possibly embellished, were described in a contemporary novel by the Anglo-Irish satirist
Charles Johnstone.
As a contrast to the frivolity of Medmenham Abbey, Dashwood erected a church on a neighbouring hill.
Charles Churchill, who previously labeled Dashwood "a disgrace to manhood" over his actions at Medmenham Abbey, and John Wilkes criticized this, implying it to be disingenuous. Wilkes wrote that the church was "built on the top of a hill for the convenience and devotion of the town at the bottom of it".
Later political career
In 1754, Dashwood was re-elected to parliament for New Romney, and when the Buckinghamshire militia was raised on the outbreak of the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
in 1757, Dashwood became its first colonel with Wilkes as his lieutenant colonel. In the same year, he attempted to prevent Admiral
John Byng
Admiral (Royal Navy), Admiral John Byng (baptised 29 October 1704 – 14 March 1757) was a Royal Navy officer and politician who was court-martialled and executed by firing squad. After joining the navy at the age of thirteen, he participate ...
's execution.
On 28 March 1761, he found a new seat in Parliament for
Weymouth and Melcombe Regis; he was re-elected on 9 June 1762 on his appointment as
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...
, which he owed to his dependence upon the Prime Minister,
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (; 25 May 1713 – 10 March 1792), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1713 and 1723, was a British Tory statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1762 to 1763 under George III. He became the ...
. Dashwood's ability in government was criticized: "Of financial knowledge he did not possess the rudiments, and his ignorance was all the more conspicuous from the great financial ability of his predecessor
Legge Legge () is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Alexander Legge (1866–1933), US businessman, president of International Harvester
* Anthony Legge (1939–2013), British archaeologist specialized in zooarchaeology
* Arthur Kaye Le ...
. His budget speech was so confused and incapable that it was received with shouts of laughter. An excise of four shillings in the hogshead, to be paid by the grower, which he imposed on cider and perry, raised a resistance through the cider counties hardly less furious than that which had been directed against the
excise scheme of Walpole". Dashwood and the Prime Minister resigned from the ministry on 8 April 1763. Dashwood received the
sinecure
A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is a position with a salary or otherwise generating income that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval church, ...
Keepership of the
Wardrobe
A wardrobe, also called armoire or almirah, is a standing closet used for storing clothes. The earliest wardrobe was a chest, and it was not until some degree of luxury was attained in regal palaces and the castles of powerful nobles that sep ...
.
In 1763, Dashwood was summoned to Parliament as 11th
Baron le Despencer
Baron le Despencer is a title that has been created several times by writ in the Peerage of England.
Creation
Sir Hugh le Despenser I was a large landowner in Leicestershire, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Rutland. He was appointed High ...
. He inherited the barony after the death of his uncle,
John Fane, 7th Earl of Westmorland and 10th Baron le Despencer.
[ John Fane had died without issue in 1762. The barony of le Despencer fell to Dashwood. The earldom of Westmorland went to Thomas Fane of Bristol, a merchant.()
]
By 1763 Dashwood was premier baronet of England, and he was made
Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, being succeeded in the colonelcy of the militia by John Wilkes. As Lord le Despencer, his public image became less associated with his past controversial actions. He joined John Montagu in leveling obscenity charges against John Wilkes for writing a pornographic poem, ''An Essay on Woman''. During
Lord North's administration from 1770 to 1781, Dashwood was joint
Postmaster General. Dashwood died at West Wycombe after a long illness on 11 December 1781. He was buried in the mausoleum he had built there, next to his wife who had died on 19 January 1769.
Family

On 19 December 1745, Dashwood married Sarah, daughter of George Gould of
Iver
Iver is a civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. In addition to the central nucleated village, clustered village, the parish includes the residential neighbourhoods of Iver Heath and Richings Park and the hamlets o ...
, Buckinghamshire. Horace Walpole described her as "a poor forlorn Presbyterian prude"; The marriage had no effect upon Dashwood's profligacy; according to Wraxall he "far exceeded in licentiousness of conduct any model exhibited since
Charles II".
Dashwood left no legitimate issue, and the Barony of le Despencer again fell into abeyance. His
illegitimate daughter unsuccessfully claimed a right to the title. His sister Rachael illegally assumed the title Baroness le Despencer, but on her death the abeyance was once more terminated in favour of her cousin, Thomas Stapleton. After Dashwood's death, his baronetcy passed to his half-brother, Sir John Dashwood-King.
Portrayal in literature and other media
Francis Dashwood has appeared in works by the following authors:
*
Charles Brockden Brown
Charles Brockden Brown (January 17, 1771 – February 22, 1810) was an American novelist, historian, and magazine editor, editor of the Early National period.
Brown is regarded by some scholars as the most important American novelist before J ...
in his 1798 novel ''
Wieland'' describes the character Carwin as "specious seducer Dashwood."
['' Wieland'', Brown, 1798]
(Internet Archive).
*
J. Meade Falkner in his 1895 novel ''
The Lost Stradivarius'' describes the
necromancer Adrian Temple as "acquainted with Francis Dashwood, the notorious Lord le Despencer ... many a winter's night saw him riding through the misty Thames meadows to the door of the sham Franciscan abbey ... of Medmenham."
* Dashwood is mentioned in a longer version of the section "
The Sailor's Hornpipe" on
Mike Oldfield
Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is an English retired musician, songwriter and producer best known for his debut studio album ''Tubular Bells'' (1973), which became an unexpected critical and commercial success. Though primarily a gu ...
's 1973 debut album ''
Tubular Bells
Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the Percussion instrument, percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillons, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the soun ...
''.
*
Robert Anton Wilson
Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American writer, futurist, psychologist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson ...
in his 1975 ''
The Illuminatus! Trilogy'' and 1980–81 ''
Schrödinger's Cat Trilogy''.
*
James Herbert
James John Herbert, OBE (8 April 1943 – 20 March 2013) was an English horror writer. A full-time writer, he also designed his own book covers and publicity. His books have sold 54 million copies worldwide, and have been translated into 34 la ...
in the 1994 novel ''
The Ghosts of Sleath''.
*
Eddie Campbell
Eddie Campbell (born 10 August 1955) is a British comics artist and cartoonist. He was the illustrator and publisher of '' From Hell'' (written by Alan Moore), and the creator of the semi-autobiographical ''Alec'' stories collected in ''Alec: ...
in the 1994 four-issue story arc ''Warped Notions'' for the comic book ''
Hellblazer
''John Constantine, Hellblazer'' is an American contemporary Horror fiction, horror comic-book series published by DC Comics since January 1988, and subsequently by its Vertigo Comics, Vertigo imprint since March 1993, when the imprint was introd ...
''.
*
Diana Gabaldon in her 1998 novella ''
Lord John and the Hellfire Club''.
*
Kathy Reichs
Dr. Kathleen Joan Reichs (PhD) (née Toelle, born July 7, 1948) is an American crime writer, forensic anthropologist and academic. She is a professor emerita of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is well known ...
in the 2001 Novel ''
Fatal Voyage''.
*
Carrie Bebris in her 2005
Regency novel ''
Suspense and Sensibility''.
*
Mike Carey in the 2006 four-issue story arc ''Reasons to Be Cheerful'' for the comic book ''
Hellblazer
''John Constantine, Hellblazer'' is an American contemporary Horror fiction, horror comic-book series published by DC Comics since January 1988, and subsequently by its Vertigo Comics, Vertigo imprint since March 1993, when the imprint was introd ...
''.
*
Kage Baker in her 2007 short story "
Hellfire at Twilight".
*
Tom Knox in the 2009 novel ''
The Genesis Secret''.
See also
*
Dashwood baronets
*
Baron le Despencer
Baron le Despencer is a title that has been created several times by writ in the Peerage of England.
Creation
Sir Hugh le Despenser I was a large landowner in Leicestershire, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Rutland. He was appointed High ...
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Dunston Pillar
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St Lawrence's Church, West Wycombe
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West Wycombe Caves
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West Wycombe Park
West Wycombe Park is a country house built between 1740 and 1800 near the village of West Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England. It was conceived as a pleasure palace for the 18th-century libertine and dilettante Sir Francis Dashwood, 2nd Baro ...
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
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::Attribution
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* Endnotes
** A volume of Dashwood's correspondence extending from 1747 to 1781 is in Egerton MS. 2136, and letters from him to Wilkes are in Addit. MS. 30867. See also Journals of the Lords and Commons;
** Official Return of Members of Parl.;
** Old Parliamentary History;
** Lists of Sheriffs, P.R.O.;
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** Horace Walpole's Letters, ed. Cunningham, vols. i-v. and vii., Memoirs of George II, ed. Lord Holland, and of George III, ed. Barker;
** Wraxall's Hist. and Posthumous Mem., ed. Wheatle;
** Almon's Mem. and Corresp. of John Wilkes, ed. 1805;
** Bubb Dodington's Diary, ed. 1809, passim;
** Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's Letters;
** Chesterfield's Letters;
** Boswell's Johnson, ed. Hill;
** Charles Johnston's Chrysal, 1768;
** Churchill's Poems, The Ghost and the Candidate;
** Bedford Correspondence;
** Thomson's Hist, of the Royal Soc.;
** Nichols's Lit. Anecdotes, viii. 236, ix. 454 (where he is confused with Thomas Stapleton, his successor in the barony);
** Mahon's Hist, of England;
** Leeky's Hist, of England;
** Lipscomb's Buckinghamshire;
** Collinson's Somerset;
** Doran's 'Mann' and Manners at the Court of Florence;
** Cust's History of the Dilettanti Society, 1898, passim;
** Courthope's, Burke's, and G. E. Cokayne's Complete Peerages.
External links
Biography
Sir Francis Dashwood (1708- 1781) by George Knowles at controverscial.com
Writings
transcribed by Richard Mammana
The Hellfire Club
from the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon
by Marjie Bloy, PhD at The Victorian Web
by Mike Howard at Talking Stick
The Lives & Times of the Hell-Fire Club
Other
High politics and Hellfire: William Hogarth’s portrait of Francis Dashwood by
Robin Simon editor of
The British Art Journal
''The British Art Journal is now published online only as The British Art Journal: Online.''
''The'' British Art ''Journal'' was a triannual journal/magazine publishing research on British art from all periods. Its last print volume, XXIV, was ...
Photographs of Dashwood's tunnels in West Wycombe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Despencer, Francis Dashwood, 11th Baron
1708 births
1781 deaths
18th-century English nobility
Barons le Despencer
Dashwood, Francis, 2nd Baronet
Dashwood, Francis, 2nd Baronet
Dashwood, Francis, 2nd Baronet
Dashwood, Francis, 2nd Baronet
Dashwood, Francis, 2nd Baronet
Fellows of the Royal Society
Hellfire Club
Lord-lieutenants of Buckinghamshire
Dashwood, Francis, 2nd Baronet
People educated at Eton College
People from Wycombe District
Postmasters general of the United Kingdom
Thelema