3© BATHURST being made P.C. on 2i, and Lord Chancellor on 23 Jan. ']']i.{^) On the following day, 24 Jan. 1771, he was cr. LORD APSLEY, BARON OF APSLEY, C") Sussex. For his high legal position he appears to have been incompetent,() and, though on 10 Feb. 1776 he acted as Lord High Steward at the trial of Elizabeth, Countess of Bristol, calling herself Duchess of Kingston, he resigned the Great Seal on 3 June I778.('^) He continued in the cabinet, as Lord President of the Council (1779), till the close of Lord North's ministry (of which he had been a staunch supporter) in 1782. He m., istly, 19 Sep. 1754, Anne, widow of Charles Phillipps, da. of ( — ) James. She d. s.p., 4 Feb. 1758, and was iur. at St. James's, Westm. He m., 2ndly, at Maidwell, Northants, 14 June 1759, Tryphena, da. of Thomas Scawen, of Maidwell, by Tryphena, da. and h. of Lord James Russell, yr. s. of William, ist Duke of Bedford. He d. at Oaldey Grove, near Cirencester, 6 Aug. 1794, in his 8ist year.(^) Will pr. Sep. 1794. His widow, who was l>. 31 Dec. 1730, d. 2 Dec. 1807, at Abbs Court, Surrey. Will pr. Jan. 1808. Both were i'ur. at Cirencester. M.L in. 1794. 3. Henry (Bathurst), Earl Bathurst, fc?c., s. and h. by 2nd wife, i. 22 May and i^ap. 6 June 1762. Matric. at Oxford (Ch. Ch.), 22 Apr. 1779; M.P. (Tory) for Cirencester, 1783-94; a Lord of the Admiralty, 1783-89; of the Treasury, 1789 to 1791; Teller of the Exchequer, 1790 till the abolition of that office in 1834; P.C. 21 June 1793; Commissioner of the India Board, 1 793-1 802; Clerk of the Crown, (joint) 1 801-16 and (sole) 1816-34; Master of the Mint, 1804-06 and 1807-12; President of the Board of Trade and Plantations, 1807-12; Foreign Secretary, Oct. to Dec. 1809; Secretary for War and Colonies, (^) "As far as the public could observe, he performed almost decently the duties of the ofKce in which, to the surprise of mankind, he was placed; affording a memor- able example of what may be accomplished by a dull discretion." {Lives of the Chancellors^ cap. 152). "The least able lawyer to whom the great seal of his country was confided in the course of the 1 8th century." [IFraxall). In Royal Register, vol. ii, p. 131, reference is also made to "the great disapprobation and universal surprise which accompanied his elevation to the high post which he now enjoys," and it is added that "attention, care, and good sense have stood in the stead of practice, and . . . the Profession as well as the suitors in Chancery are contented with his conduct, and his decisions. . . . He is by no means rapacious and is very submissive." V.G. i^) Apsley farm is in Thakeham, Sussex. Sir Allen Apsley was a cadet of the Apsleys of Pulborough, who claimed descent from the Apsleys of Thakeham Place. [ex inform. J. H. Round). V.G. {^) Foss's Judges. {f) In this year he was one of the 1 1 peers who voted against the Chatham annuity Bill, and one of the 4 who protested against it, his companions in this illiberal, ungracious, and ungrateful proceeding being the Duke of Chandos, the Archbishop of York (Markham), and Lord Paget de Beaudesert. V.G. (^) Apsley House, Hyde Park Corner, was built for him between 1771 and 1778 by the brothers Adam. It was sold in 1810 to the Wellesley family by his successor.
