George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville (26 January 1716 – 26 August 1785) was Secretary of State for the Colonies under Great Britain from 10 November 1775 to February 1782, succeeding William Legge and preceding Welbore Ellis.
Biography[]
George Germain was born on 26 January 1716, the son of Lionel Sackville and the daughter of a Lieutenant-General in the British Army; King George I of Great Britain was his godfather. Germain graduated from Trinity College in Dublin in 1737, and he befriended Jonathan Swift while in Dublin. In 1751, he became Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ireland of the Freemasons, and he also joined the British army, fighting in the War of the Austrian Succession (in which he led the charge at the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745) and in the Seven Years' War, during which he was considered for the post of commander-in-chief in North America (he instead distinguished himself at the Raid on St. Malo and the Battle of Minden). However, on 10 November 1775 he was appointed Secretary of State for the Colonies after the American Revolutionary War broke out, and he took care of provisions and supplies, strategic planning, and the appointment or demotion of generals. The war went poorly due to Germain's lack of coordination, and he stepped down as Secretary of State in 1782 to be granted a peerage. He died in 1785 at the age of 69.