Charles Dillon, 12th Viscount Dillon

Who was Charles Dillon, 12th Viscount Dillon?

Charles Dillon-Lee, 12th Viscount Dillon, KP, PC was Member of Parliament for the English borough of Westbury.

He was born Charles Dillon and changed his name to Dillon-Lee in 1776 under the terms of the will of his uncle, George Lee, 3rd Earl of Lichfield. He inherited Ditchley House in Oxfordshire from his mother, Charlotte Lee, daughter of George Lee, 2nd Earl of Lichfield and as such a granddaughter of 1st Earl of Lichfield and his first wife Charlotte Fitzroy, who was an illegitimate child of Charles II. Lord Dillon inherited his title in 1787 on the death of his father Henry Dillon, 11th Viscount Dillon.

His first wife was Henrietta-Maria Phipps, who was illegitimately descended from James II, and produced several children including Henry, the 13th viscount. He married, secondly, Marie Rogier in 1787.

After the Papal recognition of the Hanoverian Dynasty in January 1766, he conformed to the established church in 1767. In 1767 he was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1770 he was elected MP for Westbury constituency and in 1787 served as High Sheriff of Mayo.

He was invested as a Knight of the Order of St. Patrick in 1798.