Diary, 1749 Mar 8-1761 Feb 6.

1 item (256 p.) ; 33 cm.

English

In English.

Purchased from Sotheby's, May 1950.

This material is available for research.

Baron George Dubb Dodington (1691-1762), politician and diarist. In 1744 he was appointed treasurer of the navy, but wavered in his support of George II, periodically opting instead to back his friend, the Prince of Wales. In 1761, following the accession of George III, he was created Baron Melcombe.

Henry Penruddocke Wyndham's holograph copy of Dodington's diary, which records Dodington's interactions and intrigues, primarily political but occasionally personal, with various notable figures of the day, especially relating to his attendance at Parliament and at court. He recounts conversations and dinners with King George II, Prime Minister Henry Pelham, and other politicians and courtiers, but especially Prince Frederick of Wales, the Princess Augusta, and John Stuart, 3rd earl of Bute. He describes the various machinations of the court, naming his enemies, Lords Egmont and Baltimore; records his participation in various elections and in the rivalry between William Pitt and Henry Fox for leadership of the House of Commons, and details discussions regarding the Seven Years' War. The manuscript includes a dedication and preface explaining the provenance of the original diary and Wyndham's reasons why publishing it would not violate Dodington's injunction, in his will, not to publish any papers except those which would do honor to his memory.

The diary of the late George Bubb Dodington, baron of Melcombe Regis, from March 8, 1749, to February 6, 1761; with an appendix, containing some curious and interesting papers, which are either referred to, or alluded to, in the diary / by Henry Penruddocke Wyndham. Salisbury : E. Easton, 1783.

March 11, 2008

Baron George Bubb Dodington, Diary. The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University.

Baron George Bubb Dodington, Diary. The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University.

Diaries.