500 CAMBRIDGE Will dat. 1 1 Dec. 1902, pr. 29 Apr. 1904, gross under ;r 12 1,000, net under CAMDEN and CAMDEN PLACE BARONY. I. Charles Pratt, 3rd s. of Sir John P., of the J ^ Wilderness, in the parish of Scale, Kent, Lord Ch. Justice ' ^" of the King's Bench [1717-25], by his 2nd wife, Eliza- FART nOM beth, da. of the Rev. Hugh Wilson, Canon of Bangor, was i. at Kensington, and l>ap. there 21 Mar. 17 14; ed. I. 1786. at Eton (where he contracted a life-long friendship with the elder Pitt), and at King's Coll. Cambridge; B.A. 1736; M.A. 1740; Barrister (Middle Temple) 1738; F.R.S. 8 Apr. 1742; King's Counsel 1755, and Attorney Gen. to the Prince of Wales, 1 7 5 6-5 7 ; Attorney Gen. (without having previously been Sol. Gen.) J uly 1757; M.P. (Whig) for Downton, 1757-61 ;(=") Recorder of Bath, 1759; Ch. Justice of the Common Pleas Dec. 1761-66; Knighted, 28 Dec. i76i;P.C. 15 Feb. 1762. On 17 July 1765, he was tr. BARON CAMDEN OF CAMDEN PLACE [in Chislehurst], Kent. Lord Chancellor, July 1766 to Jan. i770,() Lord President of the Council, Mar. 1782 to Mar. 1783, and again Dec. 1784 till his death. On 13 May 1786, he was cr. VISCOUNT BAYHAM OF BAYHAM ABBEY, Sussex, and EARL CAMDEN.('=) He m., 4 Oct. 1749 (by spec, lie), at Ely Chapel, St. Andrew's, Holborn, Elizabeth, da. and eventually sole h. of Nicholas Jeffreys, s. and h. of Sir Jeffrey Jeffreys, of Brecknock Priory, co. good dinners, good cigars, pleasant women, of the opera, of the play." [Society in London, 1885, p. 19). An honest, kind hearted old Tory, his tenure of office as Com. in Chief for 39 years is noticeable for his steady opposition to every kind of Army Reform. V.G. (^) Nevertheless he opposed the Coalition of 1783, and was a member of Pitt's Cabinet. V.G. C') " He was justly blamed for continuing so long in a cabinet whose counsels were opposed to the sentiments he entertained " (see Foss), for he appears to have held on to office no less than two years after the resignation (in 1768) by his patron, Lord Chatham, of the Premiership, it not being till Jan. 1770, when, after having with great warmth, opposed the address, the Great Seal was (not unnaturally) taien from him. On this occurring, " Every effort was used to embarrass the Government and render it impossible to find a successor; and poor Charles Yorke fell a sacrifice to it; for the Seals being pressed on him, he found himself so surrounded by difficulties as in a fit of despondence to destroy himself. Charles Yorke was a national loss; he was a man of far superior talents and accomplishments to Lord Camden." See Sir Egerton Brydges' Biographical Peerage, 1808-17. For this and other great offices of State see Appendix D to this volume. (■=) See ante, p. 462, note " a " (under " Cadogan ") for some remarks on the omission of the word "of" in tides of Earldoms or Marquessates.
