William Bagot, 1st Baron Bagot


William Bagot, 1st Baron Bagot, known as Sir William Bagot, 6th Baronet, from 1768 to 1780, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1754 to 1780. He was then raised to the peerage as Baron Bagot.

Early life

Bagot was born on 28 February 1728. He was the eldest son of Sir Walter Bagot, 5th Baronet, and his wife Lady Barbara Legge. Among his siblings were Charles Bagot, the Rev. Walter Bagot of Pype Hayes Hall, Richard Bagot and the Right Reverend Lewis Bagot, Bishop of St Asaph.
His paternal grandparents were Sir Edward Bagot, 4th Baronet and the former Frances Wagstaffe. His maternal grandparents were William Legge, 1st Earl of Dartmouth. His niece, Jane Margaret married the English judge Sir Edward Vaughan Williams in 1826 and they were the grandparents of the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.
He was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, and graduated Master of Arts in 1749 and Doctor of Civil Law in 1754.

Career

Bagot then sat as a Tory Member of Parliament for Staffordshire from 1754 to 1780. In 1768, Bagot succeeded to the Baronetcy of Blithfield, Staffordshire, and to the family estate at Blithfield Hall on the death of his father.
On 17 October 1780 he was raised to the Peerage of Great Britain as Baron Bagot, of Bagot's Bromley in the County of Stafford.

Personal life

On 20 August 1760, Bagot was married to Elizabeth St John in Wroxham. She was the eldest daughter of John St John, 2nd Viscount St John and the former Anne Furness and sister of Frederick St John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke and Gen. Henry St John. Together, William and Elizabeth had nine children, including:
He died in London on 22 October 1798, aged 70, and was succeeded by his eldest son William. Lady Bagot died in 1820.