Chandos Leigh, 1st Baron Leigh

Chandos Leigh, 1st Baron Leigh (27 June 1791 – 27 September 1850) was a British landowner and minor poet.

Background and education

Leigh was the son of James Henry Leigh, of Adlestrop, Gloucestershire, the son of James Leigh by Lady Caroline Brydges, daughter of Henry Brydges, 2nd Duke of Chandos. He was a descendant of Sir Thomas Leigh, Lord Mayor of London in 1558. His mother was the Honourable Julia Judith Twisleton, daughter of Major-General Thomas Twisleton, 7th Baron Saye and Sele. He was educated at Harrow and Christ Church, Oxford. Leigh's father had inherited the Leigh family seat at Stoneleigh Abbey, Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, following the death of his distant cousin Edward Leigh, 5th and last Baron Leigh.

Life

Leigh was Lord Byron's schoolmate at Harrow and is said to have "inherited some of his master's poetical talent". He gained a reputation as an author and minor poet. He dined together with Byron on the evening before Byron left England for Europe in April 1816. He was also a close friend and confidant of Leigh Hunt. He was also a cousin of Jane Austen, who visited Stoneleigh Abbey in 1806. There is good evidence that it was the model for the chapel of Sotherton Court in Mansfield Park (1814).

Leigh was appointed High Sheriff of Warwickshire for 1825. In 1839 the barony of Leigh was revived in his favour when he was made Baron Leigh, of Stoneleigh in the County of Warwick.

In 1839, he also formed Stoneleigh Cricket Club in the Stoneleigh grounds at the request of his son Edward Chandos Leigh, who wanted to continue to play cricket on returning home from Harrow School in the summer months.

Family

Lord Leigh married Margarette Willes, daughter of Reverend William Shippen Willes, of Astrop House, Northamptonshire, in 1819. They had at least three sons and seven daughters. Their second son the Honourable Sir Edward Chandos Leigh was a cricketer and barrister. Their third and youngest son the Very Reverend the Honourable James Wentworth Leigh Dean of Hereford. Lord Leigh died in September 1850, aged 59, and was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son, William. Lady Leigh died in February 1860.