George O'Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont, FRS

Thomas Philipps, George O' Brien Wyndham (1751-1837), 3° conte di Egremont: da http://ladyreading.forumfree.it/?t=67705751

The 3rd Earl of Egremont; portrait by Phillips; engraved by Agar: da https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Wyndham,_3rd_Earl_of_Egremont

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Wyndham,_3rd_Earl_of_Egremont

George O'Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont (18 December 1751 – 11 November 1837) was a British peer. A direct descendant of Sir John Wyndham, he succeeded to his father's titles in 1763 at the age of 12, inheriting estates at Petworth, Egremont, Leconfield and land in Wiltshire and Somerset. He later inherited the lands of the Earl of Thomond in Ireland. He was a great patron of art and interested in the latest scientific advances. He was an agriculturist, a friend of Arthur Young, and enthusiastic for canal building, investing in many commercial ventures for the improvement of his estates. He was also not entirely indifferent to politics.

For some time the painter Turner lived at his Sussex residence, Petworth House, and many painters including John Constable, C R Leslie, George Romney, the sculptor John Flaxman, and other talented artists received commissions from Egremont, who filled his house with valuable works of art. The earl was a sponsor of the Petworth Emigration Scheme intended to relieve rural poverty caused by overpopulation. Generous and hospitable, blunt and eccentric, the earl was in his day a very prominent figure in English society. Charles Greville says, he was "immensely rich and his munificence was equal to his wealth"; and again that "in his time Petworth was like a great inn".

Timeline

• 1763:In 1763 at the age of 12, he succeeded to his father's titles and estates at Petworth in Sussex, Egremont in Cumbria, Leconfield with further land in Wiltshire and also the large estates at Orchard Wyndham in Somerset, the family's oldest possession.
• 1774:In 1774, he added O'Brien to his name on inheriting extensive estates in Ireland from his uncle Percy Wyndham-O'Brien, 1st Earl of Thomond.
• 1787:In 1787, he bought the pocket borough of Midhurst and used it to return his two younger brothers, Charles and Percy, to the House of Commons.
• 1801:George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont married Elizabeth Ilive (Alyffe) in 1801.
• 1816:The Arun Canal had extended the navigable length of the River Arun to Newbridge on the road from Wisborough Green to Billingshurst and the Wey and Arun Junction Canal was completed in 1816 to connect to the Godalming Navigation.
• 1837:The earl died at Petworth House on 11 November 1837.

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GEDCOM Note

All the Earl's children were born BEFORE the date of his marriageand therefore DO NOT inherit his titles. It is suggested that he waspossibly the father of 2nd Viscount Melbourne, Prime Minister 1835-41, whose mother was the Earl's mistress at the time of the Viscount's birth!