Sir William Hodges, 1st Baronet

Hodges acquired a fortune in the Spanish trade, and was in partnership at Cádiz 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.^[2] He was created a baronet, of Middlesex in the Baronetage of England, on 31 March 1697.^[1]

Hodges became a director of the Bank of England in 1703. He was returned as a Whig Member of Parliament for Mitchell at the 1705 English general election. He was returned again at the 1708 British general election but did not stand at the 1710 British general election.^[3]

Hodges had a house in Winchester Street, near Austin Friars when he died on 31 July 1714. He 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.^[2] He had an only son, Joseph, who succeeded to the baronetcy. Lady Hodges died in 1717.^[3]

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. Vol. 27. London: Smith, Elder & Co.