Charles Dillon, 12th Viscount Dillon

Charles was born on 6 November 1745 in London.{{Sfn|Debrett|1828|p=[https://archive.org/details/debrettspeerage01debrgoog/page/n327/ 749, line 3]|ps=. "... [Charles] b. [born] 6. Nov 1745 ..."}}{{Sfn|O'Callaghan|1854|p=[https://archive.org/details/historyofirishbr01ocal/page/50/ 50, footnote]|ps=. "... the former [Charles] in London, in November, 1745."}} He was the eldest child of Henry Dillon and his wife Lady Charlotte Lee. His father was the 11th Viscount Dillon.

Charles's mother was the eldest daughter of George Lee, 2nd Earl of Lichfield. His parents had married on 26 October 1744 in London.{{Sfn|Cokayne|1916|p=[https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo04coka/page/360/ 360, line 22]|ps=. "He m. [married], 26 Oct. 1744, at the Portuguese Embassy Chapel, Charlotte, 1st da. [daughter] and eventually h. [heir] of George Henry [Lee], 2nd Earl of Lichfield ..."}}

He was one of seven siblings, who are listed in his father's article. His two younger brothers, Arthur and Henry, were colonels of Dillon's regiment in France.

In January 1766 Pope Clement XIII ended the Catholic Church's support for the Jacobites and recognised the Hanoverian Dynasty as the rightful rulers of England. On 4 December 1767, in Dublin, Charles conformed to the established church.{{Sfn|Brown|Power|2005|p=284|ps=. "... the succession of the title and lands of the Dillons in Ireland was assured by the conversion of Henry's eldest son Charles Dillon (later twelfth Viscount Dillon of Costello-Gallen) in Dublin of 4 December 1767 ..."}} In that same year he was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.{{Cite web|url= http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=2&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27lee%27%29|title= Library and Archive Catalogue|publisher= Royal Society|accessdate= 8 November 2010}}{{Dead link|date=November 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Charles, in his youth, liked racing and gambling and made huge debts.{{Sfn|La Tour du Pin|1913b|p=[https://archive.org/details/journaldunefemme02lato/page/162/ 162, line 11]|ps=. "... Charles Dillon, était joueur et accablé de dettes."}} He moved to Brussels to avoid his debtors.

In 1770 he was elected MP for the Westbury Borough constituency in Wiltshire, England.{{Sfn|House of Commons|1878|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=L1ETAAAAYAAJ&pg=145 145]|ps=. "Charles Dillon, esq., vice Sir William Blackstone, knt., appointed one of the Puisne Justices of the King's Bench / 21 Feb. 1770 / ditto [Westbury Borough]"}}

In 1776 Charles changed his surname from Dillon to Dillon-Lee and quartered his arms accordingly to comply with the will of his maternal uncle George Lee, 3rd Earl of Lichfield. In that same year, his mother inherited the Lichfield estate at the death of her uncle the fourth Earl, who died childless.

{{Chart top|width=auto|collapsed=no|align=right|clear=right|Family tree}}

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{{Tree chart|Txt|Txt=Charles Dillon-Lee with his two wives, his parents, and other selected relatives.{{Efn|This family tree is partly derived from the Dillon family tree pictured in La Tour du Pin.{{Sfn|La Tour du Pin|1913a|pp=[https://archive.org/details/journaldunefemme01lato/page/14/ 14–15]|ps=. "Note généalogique sur la Maison des Lords Dillon"}} Also see the lists of siblings and children in the text.}}|boxstyle_Txt=border: 0 solid white; text-align: left;}}

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{{Tree chart| | |ThbD7|y| Mry |boxstyle=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em;

|ThbD7=Theobald
7th Viscount
d. 1691
Jacobite|boxstyle_ThbD7=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;

|Mry=Mary
Talbot
d. 1691}}

{{Tree chart| | |,|-|-|^|.|}}

{{Tree chart| |HryD8| |Arthr|y|CathS|boxstyle=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em;

|HryD8=Henry
8th Viscount
d. 1714|boxstyle_HryD8=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;

|Arthr=Arthur
1670–1733
French
General|

|CathS=Christina
Sheldon
1684–1757}}

{{Tree chart| |,|'| | |,|-|-|^|.| | | | | }}

{{Tree chart|RchD9| |ChD10| |HrD11|y|Chltt|boxstyle=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em;

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9th Viscount
1688–1737|boxstyle_RchD9=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;

|ChD10=Charles
10th
Viscount
1701–1741|boxstyle_ChD10=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;

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11th
Viscount
1705–1787|boxstyle_HrD11=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;

|Chltt=Charlotte
Lee
d. 1794}}

{{Tree chart| | | | | |,|-|-|-|-|-|^|-|.}}

{{Tree chart|HrttP|y|Sbjct|y|Marie| |ArtDl|boxstyle=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em;

|HrttP=Henrietta-
Maria
Phipps
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|Sbjct=Charles
12th
Viscount
1745–1813|boxstyle_Sbjct=border: 2px solid red; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;

|Marie=Marie
Rogier
d. 1833

|ArtDl=Arthur
1750–1794
French
General}}

{{Tree chart| | | |!}}

{{Tree chart| | |HAD13|y|HrttB|boxstyle=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em;

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Augustus
13th
Viscount
1777–1832|boxstyle_HAD13=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;

|HrttB=Henrietta
Browne}}

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Henry
14th
Viscount
1810–1865|boxstyle_CHD14=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;

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Dominick
15th
Viscount
1811–1879|boxstyle_TDD15=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;

|AED16=Arthur
Edmund
16th
Viscount
1812–1892|boxstyle_AED16=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;

|ElnAd=Ellen
Adderly
1809–1896}}

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Charles married twice. He married firstly on 19 August 1776 in Brussels Henrietta-Maria Phipps, daughter of Constantine Phipps, 1st Baron Mulgrave and his wife Lepel Hervey.{{Sfn|Cokayne|1916|p=[https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo04coka/page/361/ 361, line 10b]|ps=. "He m. [married], 1stly, 19 Aug. 1776 at Brussels, Henrietta Maria, da. [daughter] of Constantine John (Phipps) 1st Baron Mulgrave [I. [Ireland]] by Lepell da. of John (Hervey) Baron Hervey of Ickworth. She, who was b. [born] 26 Mar. 1757, d. [died] 1 Aug. 1782.}} She was illegitimately descended from James II.

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Charles and Henrietta Maria had two children:

1. Henry Augustus Dillon-Lee (1777–1832), succeeded him as the 13th Viscount
2. Frances Charlotte Dillon-Lee (1780–1819), married Thomas Webb, Baronet{{Sfn|Debrett|1838|p=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Ru4UAAAAQAAJ/page/n681/ 609, line 11]|ps=. "Frances-Charlotte, b. [born] 17 Feb. 1780, m. [married] 14 March 1799, sir Thomas Webb, of Oddstock, co. Wilts, bart., and d. [died] 27 April 1819."}}

On 4 November 1776 Robert Lee, 4th Earl of Lichfield, died and his earldom became extinct.{{Sfn|Burke|1883|p=[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015088438141&view=1up&seq=345 317, right column, bottom]|ps=. "His lordship d. [died] 4 November 1776, when the earldom of Lichfield and minor honours became extinct."}} The nearest relatives of the last earl were his nieces. Charles's mother, née Lee, inherited the estate as she was the eldest surviving of these nieces.

His first wife died in 1782.{{Sfn|Cokayne|1916|p=[https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo04coka/page/361/ 361, line 13a]|ps=. "She [Henrietta-Maria], who was b. 26 Mar. 1757, d. 1 Aug. 1782."}} In 1787 he married, secondly, Marie Rogier of Mechelen.{{Sfn|Cokayne|1916|p=[https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo04coka/page/361/ 361, line 13b]|ps=. "He m. [married], 2ndly, in 1787, Marie Rogier, of Malines, in Belgium.}} She had been an actress in Brussels and had been his mistress in the time before his first marriage.{{Sfn|La Tour du Pin|1913b|p=[https://archive.org/details/journaldunefemme02lato/page/162/ 162, line 3]|ps=. "... elle avait toutes les apparences de ce qu'elle était en réalité: une vieille actrice. Mon oncle l'avait eue comme maitresse avant d'épouser Miss Phipps, fille du Lord Mulgrave."}}

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Charles and Marie had at least three children:

1. James William Dillon-Lee (1792–1812), seems to have died unmarried{{Sfn|Burke|Burke|1915|p=[https://archive.org/details/b3136410x/page/647/ 647, left column, line 26]|ps=. "James William, Ensign, Gren. Guards, b. [born] 1792, d. [died] 10 Oct. 1812."}}
2. Henrietta Dillon-Lee (died 1811), seems to have died unmarried{{Sfn|Burke|Burke|1915|p=[https://archive.org/details/b3136410x/page/647/ 647, left column, line 27]|ps=. "d. [died] 11 April 1811."}}
3. Charlotte Dillon-Lee (died 1866), married in 1813 Frederick Beauclerk (1773–1850), a younger son of Aubrey Beauclerk, 5th Duke of St Albans and an early cricketer{{Sfn|Debrett|1838|p=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Ru4UAAAAQAAJ/page/n681/ 609, line 18]|ps=. "Charlotte, m. [married] 3 July 1813, lord Frederick Beauclerk."}}{{Sfn|Burke|Burke|1915|p=[https://archive.org/details/b3136410x/page/647/ 647, left column, line 28]|ps=. "Charlotte, m. [married] 1813, Rev. Lord Frederick Beauclerk, D.D., 4th son of the 5th Duke of St. Albans, and d. [died] 26 Sept. 1866."}}

In 1787 he served as High Sheriff of Mayo, Ireland. On 3 November 1787, his father, Henry Dillon, 11th Viscount Dillon, died and Charles succeeded as the 12th Viscount Dillon.{{Sfn|Debrett|1828|p=[https://archive.org/details/debrettspeerage01debrgoog/page/n327/ 748, last line]|ps=. "The viscount d. 3 Nov 1887, and was succeeded by his only son."}} He was solemnly confirmed in the Viscountcy in 1788 by the Irish House of Lords.{{Sfn|Debrett|1828|p=[https://archive.org/details/debrettspeerage01debrgoog/page/n327/ 749, line 1]|ps=. "Charles, 12th viscount, whose claim to the viscountcy was established by the house of lords in Ireland, after a solemn hearing, 18 March 1788;"}} He was invested as a Knight of the Order of St. Patrick in 1798.{{Sfn|Cokayne|1916|p=[https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo04coka/page/361/ 361, line 10a]|ps=. "K.P. 19 Mar. 1798."}}

In 1794 Charles inherited the Lichfield estate from his mother. Ditchley became the seat of the Viscounts Dillon. It would remain in the possession of the family until 1934.

During the passing of the Acts of Union 1800 Lord Dillon supported the union.{{Sfn|MacDougall|1799|p=[https://archive.org/details/sketchesofirishp00macd_0/page/77/ 77]|ps=. "Lord Dillon. This nobleman is the brother of the celebrated 'Arthur Dillon,' so well known at the court of France, who was guillotined, and of the handsome Dillon, the favourite of the Queen of France, who was massacred. He possesses considerable property, power and influence, which he exerts in favour of the union."}}

In 1802 Lord Dillon sold the manor of Quarendon, where the seat of the Lee family had once stood, to James Du Pré of Wilton Park. Quarendon was of course part of the land inherited from his mother. In 1806 Lord Dillon raised a regiment, namely the 101st Regular, recruited from the inhabitants of his Irish lands and surrounding areas near Loughglinn, County Roscommon.

File:DitchleyHousemorris.jpg

Lord Dillon died at Loughglinn, on 9 November 1813.{{Sfn|Debrett|1828|p=[https://archive.org/details/debrettspeerage01debrgoog/page/n327/ 749, line 11]|ps=. "The viscount d. [died] 9 Nov 1813, and was succeeded by his only son ..."}}{{Sfn|Cokayne|1916|p=[https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo04coka/page/361/ 361, line 14]|ps=. "He d. [died] 9 Nov. 1813 at Loughglin House, County Roscommon, aged 68.}} Despite his conversion, he was buried in the Dillon Family Vault in the Cemetery at the Augustinian Friary, Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, Ireland. His widow died in London in 1833. He was succeeded by his only son, Henry Augustus, as the 13th Viscount Dillon.

File:Charles Dillon-Lee Martin.jpg]]

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{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}

• {{Cite book|last1=Brown |first1=Michael |last2=Power |first2=Thomas P. |date=2005 |title=Converts and Conversion in Ireland 1650–1850 |publisher=Four Courts Press |location=Dublin |isbn=1-85182-810-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4GsQAQAAIAAJ}}
• {{Cite book|last=Burke |first=Bernard |author-link=Bernard Burke |date=1883 |title=A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire |edition=New |publisher=Harrison |location=London |oclc=499232768 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015088438141}}
• {{Cite book|last1=Burke |first1=Bernard |author1-link=Bernard Burke |last2=Burke |first2=Ashworth Peter |date=1915 |title=A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage, the Privy Council, Knightage and Companionage |edition=77th |publisher=Harrison |location=London |oclc=1155471554 |url=https://archive.org/details/b3136410x/}}
• {{Cite book|last=Cokayne |first=George Edward |author-link=George Edward Cokayne |editor-last=Gibbs |editor-first=Vicary |editor-link=Vicary Gibbs (St Albans MP) |date=1916 |title=The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant |edition=2nd |volume=IV |publisher=St Catherine Press |location=London |oclc=228661424 |url=https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo04coka/}} – Dacre to Dysart
• {{Cite book|last=Debrett |first=John |author-link=John Debrett |date=1828 |title=Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |edition=17th |volume=II |publisher=F. C. and J. Rivington |location=London |oclc=54499602 |url=https://archive.org/details/debrettspeerage01debrgoog/}} – Scotland and Ireland (for Dillon)
• {{Cite book|last=Debrett |first=John |author-link=John Debrett |editor-last=Courthope |editor-first=William |date=1838 |title=Debrett's Complete Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |edition=22nd |publisher=F. C. and J. Rivington |location=London |oclc=315551200 |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Ru4UAAAAQAAJ/}}
• {{Cite book|editor-last=Fryde |editor-first=Edmund Boleslaw |editor-link=Edmund Fryde |editor2-last=Greenway |editor2-first=D. E. |editor3-last=Porter |editor3-first=S. |editor4-last=Roy |editor4-first=I. |date=1986 |title=Handbook of British Chronology |publisher=Offices of the Royal Historical Society |edition=3rd |series=Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks, No. 2 |location=London |isbn=0-86193-106-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofbritis0000unse/ |url-access=registration}} – (for timeline)
• {{Cite book|author=House of Commons |date=1878 |title=Return. Members of Parliament – Part II. Parliaments of Great Britain, 1705–1796. Parliaments of the United Kingdom, 1801–1874. Parliaments and Conventions of the Estates of Scotland, 1357–1707. Parliaments of Ireland, 1599–1800. |publisher=His/Her Majesty's Stationery Office |location=London |oclc=13112546 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L1ETAAAAYAAJ}} – (for the subject as MP)
• {{Cite book|last=La Tour du Pin |first=Henriette-Lucy, Marquise de |author-link=Henriette-Lucy, Marquise de La Tour du Pin Gouvernet |date=1913a |title=Journal d'une femme de cinquante ans |trans-title=Diary of a Woman in her Fifties |edition=7th |volume=I |publisher=Librairie Chapelot |location=Paris |language=fr |oclc=1047408815 |url=https://archive.org/details/journaldunefemme01lato/}}
• {{Cite book|last=La Tour du Pin |first=Henriette-Lucy, Marquise de |author-link=Henriette-Lucy, Marquise de La Tour du Pin Gouvernet |date=1913b |title=Journal d'une femme de cinquante ans |trans-title=Diary of a Woman in her Fifties |edition=7th |volume=II |publisher=Librairie Chapelot |location=Paris |language=fr |oclc=1047478749 |url=https://archive.org/details/journaldunefemme02lato/}}
• {{Cite book|last=MacDougall |first=Henry |date=1799 |title=Sketches of Irish Political Characters of the Present Day |publisher=P. O'Shea Publisher |location=London |oclc=642449386 |url=https://archive.org/details/sketchesofirishp00macd_0/}}
• {{Cite book|last=O'Callaghan |first=John Cornelius |date=1854 |title=History of the Irish Brigades in the Service of France |publisher=P. O'Shea Publisher |location=New York |oclc=1046538374 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofirishbr01ocal/}}

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{{S-start}}

{{S-par|gb}}

{{S-bef|before=Peregrine Bertie |before2=William Blackstone}}

{{S-ttl|title=Member of Parliament for Westbury|years=1770–1774 |with=Peregrine Bertie}}

{{S-aft|after=Thomas Wenman |after2=Nathaniel Bayly}}

{{S-reg|ie}}

{{S-bef|before=Henry Dillon}}

{{S-ttl|title=Viscount Dillon |years=1787–1813}}

{{S-aft|after=Henry Dillon-Lee}}

{{S-end}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dillon, Charles Dillon, 12th Viscount}}

Category:1745 births

Category:1813 deaths

Category:British MPs 1768–1774

Category:Earls in the Jacobite peerage

Category:Fellows of the Royal Society

Category:High sheriffs of Mayo

Category:Knights of St Patrick

Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies

Category:Members of the Privy Council of Ireland

Charles 12