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3 unusual facts about Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere


Adriaen van Ostade

Two of his latest dated works, the Village Street and the Skittle Players, noteworthy items in the Ashburton and Ellesmere collections, were executed in 1676 without any sign of declining powers.

Bridgewater House, Westminster

Cleveland House was re-designed in the Palazzo style by Sir Charles Barry in 1840 and the rebuilding was completed and renamed in 1854 for Lord Ellesmere, heir of the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater.

Chandos portrait

The painting passed through descent within the Chandos title until Richard Temple-Grenville, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos sold it to the Earl of Ellesmere in 1848.


Albert Bridge, Manchester

A smaller arch on the Manchester bank of the river crossed a towpath, giving access to the Duke of Bridgewater's quay.

Bridgewater Hall

The venue is named after the Third Duke of Bridgewater who commissioned the eponymous Bridgewater Canal that crosses Manchester, although the hall is situated on a specially constructed arm of the Rochdale Canal.

Diana and Callisto

The Sutherland collection has passed by descent to Francis Egerton, 7th Duke of Sutherland, most of whose wealth is contained in the paintings collection, but who, in late August 2008 announced his wish to sell some of the collection in order to diversify his assets.

Duke of Sutherland

John Egerton, 6th Duke of Sutherland (1915–2000), already 5th Earl of Ellesmere, great-great-grandson of Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere (previously Lord Francis Leveson-Gower), third son of the 1st Duke, died without issue

Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere

On the extinction of the senior line of the Dukedom of Sutherland in 1963, his great-great-grandson, the fifth Earl, succeeded as 6th Duke of Sutherland.

Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater

He was the leading member of the syndicate which purchased and partly resold the famous Orleans Collection of old master paintings in 1798 (including Diana and Actaeon and Diana and Callisto), and most of his purchases are still held by the Egerton family.

He is famous as the originator of British inland navigation, the commissioner of the Bridgewater Canal—often said to be the first true canal in Britain and the modern world (see below for a qualification)—which was built for him by James Brindley to service his coal mines at Worsley, in Lancashire.

Francis Egerton, 7th Duke of Sutherland

Most of Sutherland's wealth is in the form of the art collection put together by the first Duke's uncle, Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, which had been inherited by the Ellesmere line of the family.

Maria Alford

On 10 February she was married at Castle Ashby to John Hume Cust, viscount Alford, elder son of John Cust, first Earl Brownlow, and the heir to a portion of the large estates of Francis Egerton, third and last Duke of Bridgewater.

Mertoun House

The house remains private, and is now the home of the 7th Duke of Sutherland.


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