The Bath MP who helped shape the city
In his day he was as much of a colourful character as Beau Nash but today may be best remembered for his role in disarming and pacifying the clans after the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715 and for the network of roads and bridges he built in the Scottish Highlands.
He really ranks alongside Nash, Ralph Allen and John Wood as being one of the four men most responsible for making Bath the beautiful city it is today.
A new book by Bath writer Denise Chantrey, who lives on Wellsway, charts his military life and his time in Bath, London and Scotland.
He is widely regarded as one of the most colourful characters in the 18th century being MP for Bath for 26 years and making his home in Abbey Church Yard in the building that now houses the National Trust shop.
The front of the building was then on the other side.
In Westminster Abbey there is a magnificent marble monument that honours George Wade and you will find a stunning three quarter portrait of the great man in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and another one in Bath's own Guildhall.
Denise says: "He loved Bath and spent large amounts of money on building and good causes in the city. He backed Ralph Allen in his application to run the cross posts.
"He came to Bath in 1715 to put down a Jacobite uprising and in the following year was given the freedom of the city."
Wades had been in the west country for hundreds of years and apparently George's coat of arms in Bath Abbey is the same as that of Wades in Gloucestershire although Denise points out that there are those who believe George Wade comes from the Yorkshire Wades.
But she says: "Until new evidence comes to light the facts are that George Wade and his brothers are the son of Major William Wade who fought with Cromwell during the Civil War period."
George Wade was already a well established figure when he decided to give up his seat as the member of parliament for Hindon in Wiltshire and put himself up for election to Bath where he was duly elected in 1722.
Denise writes: "Bath at that time was a walled city entered by four gates and even as late as 1728 the city comprised some 400 to 500 old houses crowded into a small area – no more than 15 streets, 16 lanes, five open areas, four terrace walks and a few private ones."
The streets were often muddy but not as narrow as those in Bristol. The lodging houses were poor and street lighting left a lot to be desired.
One visitor described the city as standing in a hole and built on a quagmire.
But Denise writes: "By the time Wade came to Bath it was already host to the rich and famous. Royalty, senior military figures, statesmen, aristocrats, country squires and all manner of tricksters and card sharps flocked here."
During his time in Bath he was to become much more than its representative in Parliament.
He lived in the city and he loved it. He identified himself with its local institutions and became a generous benefactor.
Wade was seen as handsome in appearance, tall, burly and as the artist van Diest described him as having dark blue-grey eyes, light brown eyebrows and a fresh complexion.
Although he loved gambling houses – especially deep play which was continuous gaming over prolonged periods of time and for very high stakes – he seems, says Denise, to have played with the same caution which characterised his military tactics.
As well as gambling he loved women. Walpole wrote of him: "I would trust Wade with my life but not where women are concerned."
Wade gave lots of gifts to the city including a stone christening font for Bath Abbey and a magnificent altarpiece which was later removed to a private house in Bath.
The impressive wrought iron communion rail was also moved and later discovered on the balcony of a house in Lansdown Place West.
Following Wade's death on March 14 1748 the obituary in The Bath Chronicle said that "by his death, the city of Bath has lost a worthy benefactor.
Henry Fielding wrote: "He hath done more good and benevolent actions than this whole paper can contain".
George Wade 1673 to 1748 by Denise Chantrey is published by Arthur H Stockwell Ltd of Ilfracombe at £13.99
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