Sir George Yonge, 5th Baronet

For the English cricketer, seeGeorge Edward Yonge.

Not to be confused with the unrelatedSir George Young, 6th Baronet.

Sir George Yonge BtKCBPCFRS
Portrait by Edmund Scott, 1790.
Secretary at War
In office 1783–1794
Monarch	George III
Preceded by	Richard FitzPatrick
Succeeded by	William Windham
In office 1782–1783
Monarch	George III
Preceded by	The Viscount Sydney
Succeeded by	Richard FitzPatrick
Governor ofthe Cape Colony
In office 10 December 1799 – 20 April 1801
Monarch	George III
Preceded by	Francis Dundas
Succeeded by	Francis Dundas
Member of ParliamentforHoniton
In office 1763–1796
Preceded by	Henry Reginald Courtenay
Succeeded by	George Chambers
In office 1754–1761
Preceded by	Sir William Yonge
Succeeded by	John Duke
Personal details
Born	(1731-07-17)17 July 1731 Great House,Colyton, Devon,England
Died	25 September 1812(1812-09-25)(aged 81) Hampton Court Palace,Surrey,England
Resting place	Colyton, Devon, England
Spouse	Ann Cleeve ​ (m.1765)​
Parent	Sir William Yonge(father)
Education	Eton College
Alma mater	University of Leipzig

Sir George Yonge, 5th Baronet,KCB,PC,FRS(/jʌŋ/;17 July 1731 – 25 September 1812), ofEscot Housein the parish ofTalatoninDevon,England, was a BritishSecretary at War(1782–1783 and 1783–1794). He succeeded tohis father's baronetcyin 1755, which became extinct when he died without children. He isremembered by,among other things, the name ofYonge Street,a principal road in what is nowToronto,Canada, so named in 1793 by theLieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada,John Graves Simcoe.

Life and career

Escot Housein 1794

Arms of Yonge:Ermine, on a bend cotised sable three griffin's heads erased or

Yonge was born in 1731atGreat Housein the parish ofColyton, Devon,the son and heir ofSir William Yonge, 4th Baronetby his second wife Ann Howard. He had a stepbrother, Walter Yonge, from his father's first wife Mary Heathcote.

He was educated atEton Collegeand then at theUniversity of Leipzig. He served as aMember of Parliamentfor his family'sRotten BoroughofHoniton,Devon, from 1754 to 1761 and again from 1763 to 1796. He was quoted to have often said that he had inherited £80,000 from his father, acquired another £80,000 when he married and £80,000 from Parliament but Honiton had "swallowed it all," This was due to the huge briberies which were commonplace to influence the electorate in rotten borough elections of the time. Yonge was appointed to thePrivy Council of the United Kingdomin 1782, and acted as Governor of theCape Colonyfor a short period from 1799 to 1801. He was elected aFellow of the Royal Societyin 1784and was invested as aKnight of the Bathin 1788.

In 1755, he inheritedEscot Housenear Ottery St Mary, Devon, on the death of his father. In 1794, he sold it for £26,000 toSir John Kennaway, 1st Baronet,under whose occupancy it burnt down in 1808.

When Yonge died, indebted, on 25 September 1812 atHampton Court,the baronetcy died with him.Initially he was interred at the place of his death but his remains were later exhumed and transported by sea to be laid to rest in the family crypt in the parish ofColyton.The re-burial was reputed to have taken place by night in fear that his creditors may seize the body.

Family

Yonge married Ann Cleeve, daughter and sole heir ofBourchier Cleeve,on 10 July 1765.Yonge was then 34 years old and Ann 20 or perhaps just 21. Ann's father, two days before his death, changed his willto place restrictions on Ann's inheritance should she marry someone whom her mother deemed inappropriate. Whether this occurred is not clear.

Ann had no children. She died at Hampton on 7 January 1833.

There is great confusion in many sources, both online and in print, that give George Yonge's wife's name as Elizabeth. This seems to be a mistake. For a discussion, see thetalk page.

Legacy

Yonge Street,Toronto

Yonge was considered an expert on Roman roads: 'He was a man of letters, an F.R.S., and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, to which he communicated an excellent memoir on the subject of Roman roads and camps, in connection with some discoveries that had been made at Mansfied, in Nottinghamshire, and hence the peculiar fitness of naming Yonge Street after him, it being precisely such a road, and adapted to similar uses, as those he had been engaged in examining.

Yonge Street, the main north–south street of Toronto, was built between 1795 and 1796 fromEglinton AvenuetoLake Simcoe.Later the road was extended south toBloor Streetand still later, south toLake Ontario.Yonge Mills Road and Townline Road Escott Yonge inFront of Yonge TownshipinMallorytown, Ontarioare named for him as well.

References

Leigh Rayment's list of baronets

External links

• "Yonge, George".Dictionary of National Biography.London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
• Yonge Street and Dundas Street: the men after whom they were named: a paper from the Canadian journal of literature, science and history. Henry Scadding