George Bubb Dodington, Baron Melcombe

Sitter in 7 portraits
Dodington inherited his uncle's estate in 1720, which left him very wealthy. He became a friend of Frederick, Prince of Wales, who took advantage of him to obtain loans to clear debts. Frederick promised him a peerage but died before acceding to the throne. Dodington entered Parliament as a Whig MP in 1722. He was appointed by the prime minister, Robert Walpole, as a Lord Commissioner at the Treasury Board. By 1740 however, relations soured and he was dismissed. He finally achieved his goal of a peerage a year before his death, when King George III honoured his father's promise. His diary, published posthumously in 1784 by Henry Penruddocke Wyndham, is a valuable historical source.