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Philip Yorke, Lord Hardwicke
(1690—1764) lord chancellor
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(1690–1764).
As the longest‐serving lord chancellor of the 18th cent., Hardwicke had significant legal achievements to his credit, particularly in clarifying the laws of equity. He was solicitor‐general at the age of 29, chief justice and a peer at 42, and lord chancellor at 46 (1737). An austere man, he had the lifelong friendship of the duke of Newcastle and, though resigning as lord chancellor in 1756, he remained a member of the ‘effective cabinet’ until 1762.
