Sir John Wyndham, of Orchard Wyndham

Spouse: Elizabeth SYDENHAM

Children:

Charles WYNDHAM

Margaret WYNDHAM

John WYNDHAM Esq.+

Eleanor WYNDHAM

Edmond WYNDHAM+

Elizabeth WYNDHAM

Catherine WYNDHAM

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http://british-miniatures2.blogspot.com/2008/10/unknown-portrait-of...

The Wyndham Family, at Orchard Wyndham, and Petworth:

Orchard Wyndham is a historic house parts of which date from medieval times near Williton, Somerset, England. There is evidence of occupation of the site from Roman and Saxon times.

The estate was originally called "Orchard", possibly a corruption of the Saxon family name "De Horcherd". In 1448 it then passed into the hands of the Sydenham family of Coombe Sydenham, and was known as Orchard Sydenham. Elizabeth Sydenham inherited the house and in 1528 married John Wyndham (c.1500-1574) of Felbrigg, Norfolk.

John Wyndham, scion of a Norfolk family from Wymondham, ten miles south-west of Norwich, married fortunately when he chose Elizabeth Sydenham and bought out her sister.

The house hitherto occupied by the Sydenham sisters, Orchard Sydenham, changed its name when Sir William Wyndham, the Member of Parliament for Somerset 1656-1658 and for Taunton 1660-1679, was made a Baronet in 1661, of Orchard, Somerset. The house has remained in the same family ever since.

It was an opportune moment to acquire such an estate: agriculture had been profitable for 100 years and it made sense to invest in improvements. Revealingly, techniques were so backward it was wise practice to read classical authors like Virgil (especially his Georgics), not so much for literary pleasure, but for practical instruction and advice for better husbandry. John Wyndham built an extension of the house to the north (later demolished between 1780 and 1830) for their own use, appropriating the original for staff quarters.

His son John (1559-1645) looked after his succession by siring nine sons and six daughters; keeping out of the Civil War, he managed to preserve his estates intact. For his Royalist loyalty, Charles II gave him the clock still to be seen at the house.

Sir William Wyndham (1687-1740) was considered by Disraeli the most important member of the family so far. Partly through marriage to a Seymour but largely through his own enterprise and efforts, he became leader of the Hanoverian Tories and Chancellor of Exchequer in his late 20s.

Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont PC (1710 – 21 August 1763), a son of Sir William Wyndham and a direct descendant of Sir John Wyndham, succeeded his uncle, Algernon Seymour, 7th Duke of Somerset, as 2nd Earl of Egremont in 1750. Charles, who had succeeded to his father's baronetcy in 1740, inherited Somerset's estates in Cumberland and Sussex.

Wyndham was a member of Parliament from 1734 to 1750: for Bridgwater 1734-1741, Appleby 1741-1747, and Taunton 1747-1750. In October 1761 he was appointed Secretary of State for the Southern Department in succession to William Pitt. His term of office, during which he acted in concert with his brother-in-law, George Grenville, was mainly occupied with the declaration of war on Spain and with the negotiations for peace with France and Spain, the terms of which the earl seems to have disliked. He was also involved with the proceedings against John Wilkes. He died on 21 August 1763. Horace Walpole perhaps rates Egremont's talents too low when he says he had neither knowledge of business, nor the smallest share of parliamentary abilities.

He was Lord Lieutenant of Cumberland 1751-1763 and Lord Lieutenant of Sussex 1762-1763.

As Earls of Egmont the senior branch lived at Petworth.

Over 100 years and even more recently, inhabitants of the Orchard Wyndham home have included William Wyndham (died 1950), who was involved in historical research and philanthropy, and his succeeding nephew, who died young. These deaths were early and unfortunate for the Wyndham family.

The main family home, Petworth House at Petworth, West Sussex, England, is a late 17th-century mansion, rebuilt in 1688 by Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, and altered in the 1870s by Anthony Salvin. The site was previously occupied by a fortified manor house founded by Henry de Percy, the 13th-century chapel and undercroft of which still survive.

For the past 250 years, the Petworth house and estate have been in the hands of the Wyndham family — currently John Max Henry Scawen Wyndham, 2nd Baron Egremont & 7th Baron Leconfield, a direct descendant of Sir John Wyndham. He and his family live in the south wing, allowing much of the remainder to be open to the public.

Petworth stands in a 700 acre landscaped park, known as Petworth Park, which was designed by 'Capability' Brown. The park is one of the more famous in England, largely on account of a number of pictures of it which were painted by Turner. It is inhabited by the largest herd of fallow deer in England. There is also a 30 acre woodland garden, known as the Pleasure Ground.

Even by the standards of late Georgian England, Petworth was regarded as an eccentric household. he 3rd Earl, George O'Brien Wyndham was passionately interested in agriculture, racehorses, art and fishing.

Agriculture was a prime interest of the 3rd Earl, who was hailed as "one of the fathers of modern English agriculture". His pigs were accommodated in grand style near the house and roamed freely on the lawns (perhaps the inspiration for PG Wodehouse's Lord Emsworth and his prize sow, the Empress of Blandings, as seen here). Lord Egremont's daughter-in-law was once astounded to see a sow and her litter "get in through a window and gallop down through the rooms".

For some time the painter JMW Turner (1775-1851), showing here in a self portrait, lived at Petworth House, and in addition to Turner, the painter Leslie, the sculptor Flaxman and other talented artists received commissions from Egremont, who filled Petworth with valuable works of art. However, after the 3rd Earl's death all the artists were immediately banished by the family.

Today's Petworth building houses an important collection of paintings and sculptures, including 19 oil paintings by Turner (some owned by the family, some by Tate Britain), paintings by Van Dyck, carvings by Grinling Gibbons, classical and neo-classical sculptures (including ones by John Flaxman and John Edward Carew), and wall and ceiling paintings by Louis Laguerre. There is also a terrestrial globe by Emery Molyneux, believed to the only one in the world in its original 1592 state.

he 'Golden Age' of Petworth came with Sir Charles Wyndham's eldest son, George, 3rd Earl of Egremont (1751-1837), patron of the arts, ideal landlord, agriculturalist, and generous host, famous both for his extreme shyness in London's social circle as for his immense hospitality to all at Petworth. He is said to have entertained upwards of 6000 of the local poor at one time in the house and grounds, and over a period of 60 years to have spent in excess of £1,200,000 on charitable purposes. Numerous artists visited and worked at Petworth, most notable of all being Turner, many of whose paintings hang in the house, while Blake, Hayley, B. R. Haydon, Phillips, Farington and Greville all recorded the immense generosity of their host. He introduced many agricultural reforms under the expert guidance of Arthur Young, and took great interest in road and waterway improvements. In 1774 he took also the surname of Obrien, which he inherited with the estate of his late uncle, the Earl of Thomond, a family connection which arose from the marriage of a daughter of the 6th Duke of Somerset. He was Lord Lieutenant of Sussex from 1819-1835. At least two attempts were made to marry him into society, but it was Elizabeth Ilive, the daughter of a master at Westminster School, who bore him his nine children, and whom he eventually married in 1801. On account of this oversight, on his death in 1837 the title passed to his nephew, George, on whose death in 1845 it became extinct. However, the estate passed to his eldest son, Col. George Wyndham who in 1859 took the title of Leconfield. In 1947 Petworth was conveyed with a large endowment to the National Trust, to be preserved for the nation.

The Wyndham Family and the Arts

Many important art works remain at Petworth, but others have passed through the hands of the Earls of Egremont including art by Rembrandt, Turner (who lived there), da Brescia, Van Voorhut, and now-famous antiquities from Egypt.

Turner attended the funeral of his patron, Wyndham the 3rd Earl of Egremeont. After Turner's death, all the works remaining in his possession – about 300 oils and 19,000 drawings and watercolours – were given to the National Gallery.