Francis Dashwood
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The Right Honourable The Lord le Despencer PC FRS |
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| 2nd Postmaster-General | |
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In office 1765–1781 |
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| Prime Minister | Various |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Bessborough |
| Succeeded by | The Viscount Barrington |
| Master of the Great Wardrobe | |
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In office 1763–1765 |
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| Monarch | George III |
| Preceded by | The Earl Gower |
| Succeeded by | The Earl of Ashburnham |
| Chancellor of the Exchequer | |
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In office 1762–1763 |
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| Prime Minister | The Earl of Bute |
| Preceded by | The Viscount Barrington |
| Succeeded by | George Grenville |
| Treasurer of the Chamber | |
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In office 1761–1762 |
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| Monarch | George III |
| Preceded by | Charles Townshend |
| Succeeded by | Sir Gilbert Elliot |
| Member of Parliament for New Romney |
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In office 1741–1761 |
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| Preceded by | Sir Robert Austen |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Knight |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 1708 Westminster, Middlesex, England |
| Died | 11 December 1781 (aged 72–73) West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Tory |
| Alma mater | Eton College |
Francis Dashwood, 11th Baron le Despencer PC FRS (December 1708 – 11 December 1781) was an English rake and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (1762–1763) and founder of the Hellfire Club.
Dashwood was born in Great Marlborough Street, London, in December 1708. He was only son of Sir Francis Dashwood, 1st Baronet (died 1724), and his second wife Mary, eldest daughter of Vere Fane, 4th Earl of Westmorland.
Dashwood was educated at Eton College where he became associated with William Pitt the Elder. Upon the death of his father on 4 November 1724, Dashwood, who was only fifteen, inherited his father's estates and the Baronetcy of Dashwood of West Wycombe.
Dashwood spent his youth and early adulthood abroad gaining a reputation for notoriety while travelling around Europe. He impersonated Charles XII while in Russia and attempted to seduce Tsarina Anne, and was later expelled from the Papal states.
His sojourns abroad did also include classical aspects of the European Grand Tour. After travelling to France and then returning via Germany to England between January and September 1726, he did not venture abroad again until 1729, when he was away for two years returning in 1731. During this time he visited Italy (he was to return to Italy between 1739 and 1741 when stayed in Florence and Rome and visited Leghorn and the excavations at Herculaneum). While in Italy he befriended the philosopher and theologian Antonio Niccolini (1701–1769). In 1733—between the visits to Italy—Dashwood accompanied George, Lord Forbes, envoy-extraordinary, to St Petersburg, stopping on the way at Copenhagen. In the opinion of Patrick Woodland, the author of his biography in the ODNB (2004), "His intelligent and discriminating diary of this expedition offers important first-hand descriptions of both capitals at this date".
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