Men of Kent and Kentishmen/Philip Yorke

Was born at Dover, in 1690, of a family that had resided in Kent for two generations, but which was originally of Wiltshire. His father was Philip Yorke, an attorney, occupying the position of Town Clerk. His mother was Elizabeth Gibbon, cousin and widow of Edward Gibbon an ancestor of the celebrated historian. He was educated at a school in Bethnal Green, and after spending some time in the office of Mr. Salkeld, brother of the famous Sergeant, entered the Middle Temple, Nov. 29th, 1708. He was called to the Bar May 6th, 1715, and almost immediately obtained considerable practice, and in 1719 was returned member for Lewes. On March 22nd 1720, he was knighted and became Solicitor-General, and soon ​after bencher, treasurer, and reader of his Inn. In 1724 he was made Attorney-General, which office he filled ten years. In 1733 he was appointed Chief Justice of the King's Bench, and raised to the Upper-house as Lord Hardwicke. Three years and a half later, on the death of Lord Talbot, he became Lord Chancellor, a position he filled with credit and dignity for nearly twenty years. "The beauty of his person, the urbanity of his manners, the peculiar sweetness of his voice enhanced the admiration which could not fail to be excited by his excellence as a judge." He died March 6th, 1764. His eldest son Philip, second Earl of Hardwicke, was a distinguished statesman and man of letters, and his second son, Charles, a lawyer of reputation. His eldest daughter married the famous sailor, Lord Anson, but whether these children were Kentish born does not appear.

[See "Collins's Peerage," "Biographia Britannica," "Foss's Judges," and Campbell's "Lives of the Chancellors"