Francis Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater
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Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (born November 11, 1756 , † February 11, 1829 in Paris ) was a British eccentric, writer and supporter of natural theology . He wrote some of his works in French as François-Henri Egerton . He was the editor of the Bridgewater Treatises named after him .
Life
Egerton was the second and youngest son of John Egerton , who was Bishop of Durham from 1771 to 1787 , and the Lady Anne Sophia Gray, daughter of Henry Gray, 1st Duke of Kent .
Egerton attended Eton College and then studied at Christ Church College of Oxford University . He became a fellow at All Souls College in 1780 and the Royal Society in 1781.
With the childless death of his brother John Egerton, 7th Earl of Bridgewater , he inherited his nobility titles as 8th Earl of Bridgewater , 9th Viscount Brackley and 9th Baron Ellesmere and a large fortune. Because of the title of nobility, he also became a member of the House of Lords .
An eccentric, Egerton was known for holding dinner parties for dogs, with dogs dressed in the finest daily fashion, right down to fanciful miniature shoes. Every day Egerton wore a pair of new shoes and lined up the shoes he had worn so that he could use them to measure the passage of time.
A fan of the hunt, Egerton kept partridges and pigeons with clipped wings in his garden so that he could shoot them despite his poor eyesight. Egerton never married and on his death his titles became extinct. He died in Paris but was buried in Little Gaddesden .
He bequeathed the precious Egerton Manuscripts to the British Museum , consisting of 67 manuscripts dealing with French and Italian literature , and £ 12,000 to set up an Egerton Fund from which the museum has so far been able to acquire over 3,800 additional manuscripts. The collection contains a work by a medieval illuminator who is not known by name and who is named after the collection as the Egerton master .
Works
- Description du Plan Incliné Souterrain , Paris 1812 ( Description of the underground boat lift , online version on Google Books )
Web links
- Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgwater on thepeerage.com
- Mr Franics Egerton at Hansard (English)
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| John Egerton |
Earl of Bridgewater 1823-1829 |
Title expired |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Egerton, Francis, 8th Earl of Bridgewater |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Egerton, Francis Henry, 8th Earl of Bridgewater; Bridgewater, Francis Egerton, 8th Earl of; Egerton, François-Henri |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British eccentric, theologian and nobleman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 11, 1756 |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 11, 1829 |
| Place of death | Paris |