Sir George Yonge, 5th Baronet

File:George Yonge.jpg

Sir George Yonge, 5th Bt

Sir George Yonge, 5th Baronet, KCB, PC (1731 – 25 September 1812) was a British Secretary at War (1782–1783 and 1783–1794) and the namesake of Yonge Street, a principal road in Toronto, Canada, which was named in 1793 by the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada John Graves Simcoe. He succeeded to the baronetcy in 1755 and it became extinct on his death.

Life

Yonge was born in Colyton, Devon, in 1731 (other sources gives 1732 ) to Sir William Yonge, 4th Baronet (1693–1751) and his second wife Ann Howard, one of several siblings: Anna, Amelia, Juliana, Sophia, Howard, Louisa, and Charlotte Yonge.

He also had a stepbrother, Walter Yonge from his father's first wife Marry Heathcote. He was educated at Eton College and the University of Leipzig. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Bourchier Cleeve, in 1765, and had no issue.

He also served as Member of Parliament for Honiton from 1754 to 1761 and again from 1763 to 1796. He was elevated to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in 1782. He acted as Governor of the Cape Colony for a short period from 1799 to 1801.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1784 and invested as a Knight of the Bath in 1788.

Legacy

He was an expert on Roman roads and his name now lives on in the form of Yonge Street, the main arterial road in Toronto. It was built between 1795 and 1796 from Eglinton Avenue to Lake Simcoe. Later the road was extended south to Bloor Street and still later, south to Lake Ontario.

Yonge Mills Road and Townline Road Escott Yonge in Front of Yonge Township in Mallorytown, Ontario are named for him as well.

Death

He died on 25 September 1812 in Hampton Court.

References

Leigh Rayment's list of baronets

External links

•  
• 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

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Sir William Yonge, Bt John Heath	Member of Parliament for Honiton 1754–1761 With: Henry Reginald Courtenay	Succeeded by Henry Reginald Courtenay John Duke
Preceded by Henry Reginald Courtenay John Duke	Member of Parliament for Honiton 1763–1796 With: John Duke 1763–1768 Brass Crosby 1768–1774 Laurence Cox 1774–1780 Alexander Macleod 1780–1781 Jacob Wilkinson 1781–1784 Sir George Collier 1784–1790 George Templer 1790–1796	Succeeded by George Chambers George Shum
Preceded by George Hardinge Charles Watkin Williams-Wynn	Member of Parliament for Old Sarum 1799–1801 With: George Hardinge	Succeeded by George Hardinge John Horne Tooke
Political offices
Preceded by Thomas Townshend	Secretary at War 1782–1783	Succeeded by Richard Fitzpatrick
Preceded by Richard Fitzpatrick	Secretary at War 1783–1794	Succeeded by William Windham
Preceded by The Marquess Townshend	Master of the Mint 1794–1799	Succeeded by Lord Hawkesbury
Government offices
Preceded by Francis Dundas, acting	Governor of the Cape Colony 1799–1801	Succeeded by Francis Dundas, acting
Baronetage of England
Preceded by William Yonge	Baronet (of Culliton) 1755–1812	Extinct