Sir William Hodges, 1st Baronet

Sir William Hodges, 1st Baronet (1645–1714) was an English merchant in London and politician.

Sir William Hodges, 1st Baronet, 1715 portrait by John Smith after Godfrey Kneller

Life

Hodges acquired a fortune in the Spanish trade, and was in partnership at Cadiz with Christopher Hague, Ellis Terrell, and the Hon. Henry Bertie, according to his will. During the Nine Years' War he extended credit to the government, accepting a bill for £300,000, for the use of the English fleet under the command of Admiral Edward Russell, and was created a baronet on 31 March 1697.[1]

Hodges became a director of the Bank of England in 1703, and sat as Member of Parliament for Mitchell in 1705.[2] He resided in 1681 in Mincing Lane, and at the time of his death had a house in Winchester Street, near Austin Friars.[1]

He died on 31 July 1714, and was buried on 6 August at St. Katherine Coleman in Fenchurch Street. James Peller Malcolm describes his funeral, which was of unusual grandeur, with forty-two noblemen's coaches following the procession.[1]

Family

Hodges married in 1681 Sarah, daughter and coheiress of Joseph Hall, merchant, of London and Hampstead, when his age was stated as "about thirty-six". He had an only son, Joseph, who succeeded to the baronetcy. Lady Hodges died in 1717.[1]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4  Lee, Sidney, ed. (1891). "Hodges, William (1645?-1714)". Dictionary of National Biography 27. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  2. Hayton, D. W. "Hodges, William". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/13424. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1891). "Hodges, William (1645-1714)". Dictionary of National Biography 27. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 

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