biography text
The Leveson Gowers were the leading family in Staffordshire, and during this period were always accorded one of the county seats. They also controlled two seats at Newcastle-under-Lyme and one at Lichfield. The marriage in 1737 of Gertrude, daughter of the 1st Earl Gower, to John, 4th Duke of Bedford, led to a political group being formed, based on the two families—the famous ‘Bloomsbury gang’. The 2nd Earl Gower, Bedford’s brother-in-law, ranked second to Bedford himself; and after Bedford’s death in 1771 led the group until its disintegration in the late ’70s.
Lord Stafford (as he became in 1786) died 26 Oct. 1803.
Volume
Parlimentarian
Parliamentarian
58315