Charles Fane, 2nd Viscount Fane
Encyclopedia
Charles Fane, 2nd Viscount Fane (c. 1708 – c. 24 January 1766) was a landowner in Ireland
and England
, a Whig
Member of Parliament
and the British Resident
in Florence.
, FRS and sister of the soldier-statesman James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope
(1673–1721). Fane was educated at Eton
c. 1718-1725, and Geneva
which was part of his 1726-1729 Grand Tour
. He is reported to have left Venice on 20 January 1730 (Ingamells and Ford).
(1710–1771) he was an Opposition Whig Member of Parliament (MP) for Tavistock
from 1734 to 1747, and a Member for Reading
in Berkshire from 1754 to 1761.
Fane interrupted his duties as member for Tavistock when he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary (British Resident) to the Tuscan court
in March 1734, with an annual salary of 1,300 pounds. He coincided with the final months of Gian Gastone de' Medici
, the last Medici
Grand Duke.
He was in Florence in person between 3 October 1734 and spring 1738; when Horace Walpole's later friend Horace Mann
, his deputy, replaced him (as the Chargé d'Affairs).
Here's Mann in a letter to Walpole of 7 September 1745:
He joined White's
Young Club (a sub-set of the original) in its foundation year 1743.
He succeeded his father in 1744 to estates in near Tandragee in county Armagh; near Lough Gur
in county Limerick; at Basildon House
in Berkshire
; and near Tiverton in Devon. The Irish estates derived from Henry Bourchier, 5th Earl of Bath
, an ancestral uncle by marriage, while the Devonshire estates had come from his maternal grandmother's family of Southcote.
At the 18 April 1754 poll, after a remarkably expensive contest, Fane only beat the third placed contestant, the court Whig, John Dodd, by one vote, 296 to 295. Dodd petitioned against Fane's return. Bedford and Pitt
organised Fane's defence. The painter William Hogarth
depicted the 1754 election in his series the Humours of an Election
, 1755, which was based on the election in Berkshire's neighbour Oxfordshire.
, Susanna, Lady Juxon (1706-10 April 1792). She was the youngest daughter of John Marriott, Registrar of the Court of Chancery
, of Stuston
Hall, near Diss
in Suffolk, and of Sonning
in Berkshire.
In 1726 she had married Sir William Juxon, 2nd Bt (dsp1739/40) of Little Compton in Gloucestershire (now Warwickshire), the heir and great nephew of Archbishop Juxon
. As a widow she lived at Little Compton and at Fane's house in Curzon street.
, for a wider site and added the two-bow fronted wings. The house was given up on the death of his widow in 1792. In 1984 the Saudi Arabia
n government bought it, by then known as Crewe House, for its embassy, paying 37 million pounds.
, and Dorothy wife of John, fourth Earl of Sandwich
.
The mansion house and estate at Basildon was sold to the Nabob
, Sir Francis Sykes
, and the great house was replaced by a bijoux Palladian villa, Basildon Park
. His mother's renowned grotto down the hill at the Thames-side New House soon disappeared, though the house still stands. The lands in Armagh and Limerick were retained. They were finally partitioned in 1806.
Fane is in two of the monumental hunting scenes by John Wootton
in the Hall at Althorp
. They were commissioned by Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough
and fifth Earl of Sunderland in 1733/34. When Lord Sunderland's youngest brother hon. Jack Spencer
died in 1746, their old school friend Fane became guardian of the son, the future 1st Earl Spencer
.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, a Whig
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
and the British Resident
Resident (title)
A Resident, or in full Resident Minister, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of indirect rule....
in Florence.
Early life
He was the eldest son of Charles Fane, 1st Viscount Fane by his wife Mary (1686–1762) daughter of the envoy Hon. Alexander StanhopeAlexander Stanhope
Alexander Stanhope was an English envoy in Madrid between 1690 and 1699.-Early Life:He was the youngest son of Philip Stanhope, 1st Earl of Chesterfield and Anne Pakington. He was educated at Exeter College, Oxford, graduating in 1654.He married Catherine Burghill, daughter of Arnold Burghill of...
, FRS and sister of the soldier-statesman James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope
James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope
James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope PC was a British statesman and soldier who effectively served as Chief Minister between 1717 and 1721. He is probably best remembered for his service during War of the Spanish Succession...
(1673–1721). Fane was educated at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
c. 1718-1725, and Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
which was part of his 1726-1729 Grand Tour
Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the traditional trip of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men of means. The custom flourished from about 1660 until the advent of large-scale rail transit in the 1840s, and was associated with a standard itinerary. It served as an educational rite of passage...
. He is reported to have left Venice on 20 January 1730 (Ingamells and Ford).
Political career
A friend and follower of John Russell, 4th Duke of BedfordJohn Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford
John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford KG, PC, FRS was an 18th century British statesman. He was the fourth son of Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford, by his wife, Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of John Howland of Streatham, Surrey...
(1710–1771) he was an Opposition Whig Member of Parliament (MP) for Tavistock
Tavistock (UK Parliament constituency)
Tavistock was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Devon between 1330 and 1974. Until 1885 it was a parliamentary borough, consisting solely of the town of Tavistock; it returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1868, when its...
from 1734 to 1747, and a Member for Reading
Reading (UK Parliament constituency)
Reading was a parliamentary borough, and later a borough constituency, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It comprised the town of Reading in the county of Berkshire....
in Berkshire from 1754 to 1761.
Fane interrupted his duties as member for Tavistock when he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary (British Resident) to the Tuscan court
Grand Duchy of Tuscany
The Grand Duchy of Tuscany was a central Italian monarchy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1859, replacing the Duchy of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence...
in March 1734, with an annual salary of 1,300 pounds. He coincided with the final months of Gian Gastone de' Medici
Gian Gastone de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Gian Gastone de' Medici was the seventh and last Medicean Grand Duke of Tuscany. He was the second son of Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Marguerite Louise d'Orléans, Princess of France...
, the last Medici
Medici
The House of Medici or Famiglia de' Medici was a political dynasty, banking family and later royal house that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici in the Republic of Florence during the late 14th century. The family originated in the Mugello region of the Tuscan countryside,...
Grand Duke.
He was in Florence in person between 3 October 1734 and spring 1738; when Horace Walpole's later friend Horace Mann
Sir Horace Mann, 1st Baronet
Sir Horace Mann, 1st Baronet KB , diplomat, was a long standing British resident in Florence.-Biography:...
, his deputy, replaced him (as the Chargé d'Affairs).
Here's Mann in a letter to Walpole of 7 September 1745:
- 'He [Mr Blair] tells me besides that Lord Fane was appointed [he wasn't] ambassador to Constantinople, and would soon set out. This, I own, surprised me, though on reflecting, that seems a proper place for him both to indulge his natural indolence on a sofa, and at other times his passion for horses.'
White's
White's is a London gentlemen's club, established at 4 Chesterfield Street in 1693 by Italian immigrant Francesco Bianco . Originally it was established to sell hot chocolate, a rare and expensive commodity at the time...
Young Club (a sub-set of the original) in its foundation year 1743.
He succeeded his father in 1744 to estates in near Tandragee in county Armagh; near Lough Gur
Lough Gur
Lough Gur is a lake in County Limerick, Ireland between the towns of Herbertstown and Bruff. The lake forms a horseshoe shape at the base of Knockadoon Hill and some rugged elevated countryside. It is one of Ireland's most important archaeological sites...
in county Limerick; at Basildon House
Basildon Park
Basildon Park is a country house situated 3 kilometres south of Goring-on-Thames and Streatley in Berkshire, between the villages of Upper Basildon and Lower Basildon. It is owned by the National Trust and is a Grade I listed building...
in Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
; and near Tiverton in Devon. The Irish estates derived from Henry Bourchier, 5th Earl of Bath
Henry Bourchier, 5th Earl of Bath
Henry Bourchier, 5th Earl of Bath was an English Peer of the Realm, Lord Privy Seal, and landowner in counties Limerick, Armagh, Devon and Somerset-Biography:Sir Henry Bourchier was probably born and was certainly brought up in Ireland...
, an ancestral uncle by marriage, while the Devonshire estates had come from his maternal grandmother's family of Southcote.
At the 18 April 1754 poll, after a remarkably expensive contest, Fane only beat the third placed contestant, the court Whig, John Dodd, by one vote, 296 to 295. Dodd petitioned against Fane's return. Bedford and Pitt
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham PC was a British Whig statesman who led Britain during the Seven Years' War...
organised Fane's defence. The painter William Hogarth
William Hogarth
William Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
depicted the 1754 election in his series the Humours of an Election
Humours of an Election
The Humours of an Election is a series of four oil paintings and later engravings by William Hogarth that illustrate the election of a member of parliament in Oxfordshire in 1754. The oil paintings were created in 1755...
, 1755, which was based on the election in Berkshire's neighbour Oxfordshire.
Marriage
On 7 June 1749 Fane married at St Benet Paul's WharfSt Benet Paul's Wharf
The Church of St Benet Paul's Wharf is the Welsh church of the City of London. Since 1555, it has also been the church of the College of Arms, and many officers of arms are buried there. The current church was designed by Sir Christopher Wren.-History:...
, Susanna, Lady Juxon (1706-10 April 1792). She was the youngest daughter of John Marriott, Registrar of the Court of Chancery
Court of Chancery
The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid the slow pace of change and possible harshness of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equity, including trusts, land law, the administration of the estates of...
, of Stuston
Stuston
Stuston is a small village in the county of Suffolk, England close to the border with Norfolk, England. Its postal town is Diss, Norfolk, England....
Hall, near Diss
Diss
Diss is a town in Norfolk, England close to the border with the neighbouring East Anglian county of Suffolk.The town lies in the valley of the River Waveney, around a mere that covers . The mere is up to deep, although there is another of mud, making it one of the deepest natural inland lakes...
in Suffolk, and of Sonning
Sonning
Sonning, occasionally called Sonning-on-Thames is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Wokingham in the English county of Berkshire, a few miles east of Reading. The village is situated on the River Thames and was described by Jerome K...
in Berkshire.
In 1726 she had married Sir William Juxon, 2nd Bt (dsp1739/40) of Little Compton in Gloucestershire (now Warwickshire), the heir and great nephew of Archbishop Juxon
William Juxon
William Juxon was an English churchman, Bishop of London from 1633 to 1649 and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1660 until his death.-Life:...
. As a widow she lived at Little Compton and at Fane's house in Curzon street.
Home on Curzon Street
Fane's leasehold dwelling-house, still extant, on the north side of Curzon Street in London, was bought from Elizabeth Shepherd in 1753. He negotiated with the ground landlord, Nathaniel CurzonViscount Scarsdale
Viscount Scarsdale, of Scarsdale in the County of Derby, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1911 for the prominent Conservative politician and former Viceroy of India George Curzon, 1st Baron Curzon of Kedleston, who was created Earl Curzon of Kedleston at the same...
, for a wider site and added the two-bow fronted wings. The house was given up on the death of his widow in 1792. In 1984 the Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
n government bought it, by then known as Crewe House, for its embassy, paying 37 million pounds.
Death
Sometimes referred to as Charles Lord Viscount Fane and before that as Hon. Charles Fane, he died without issue and was buried at Lower Basildon, Berkshire, 31 January 1766. His estates, after considering his widow, were divided between his surviving sisters, Mary, wife to Jerome de SalisJerome, 2nd Count de Salis
Jérôme de Salis, 2nd Count de Salis-Soglio was a Fellow of the Royal Society, and sometime British Resident in the Grisons...
, and Dorothy wife of John, fourth Earl of Sandwich
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, PC, FRS was a British statesman who succeeded his grandfather, Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sandwich, as the Earl of Sandwich in 1729, at the age of ten...
.
The mansion house and estate at Basildon was sold to the Nabob
Nabob
A nabob, an English form of "nawab", is a merchant-leader of high social status and wealth.Nabob may also refer to:*Nabob , a brand of coffee in Canada*HMS Nabob , a Bogue-class escort aircraft carrier...
, Sir Francis Sykes
Francis Sykes
Sir Francis Sykes, 1st Baronet was an English landowner, Member of Parliament and sometime Governor of Kasimbazar in India, being styled an English nabob by his peers....
, and the great house was replaced by a bijoux Palladian villa, Basildon Park
Basildon Park
Basildon Park is a country house situated 3 kilometres south of Goring-on-Thames and Streatley in Berkshire, between the villages of Upper Basildon and Lower Basildon. It is owned by the National Trust and is a Grade I listed building...
. His mother's renowned grotto down the hill at the Thames-side New House soon disappeared, though the house still stands. The lands in Armagh and Limerick were retained. They were finally partitioned in 1806.
Fane is in two of the monumental hunting scenes by John Wootton
John Wootton
John Wootton was an English painter of sporting subjects, battle scenes and landscapes, and illustrator.-Life:Born in Snitterfield, Warwickshire , he is best remembered as a pioneer in the painting of sporting subjects – together with Peter Tillemans and James Seymour – and was considered the...
in the Hall at Althorp
Althorp
Althorp is a country estate of about and a stately home in Northamptonshire, England. It is about north-west of the county town of Northampton. The late Diana, Princess of Wales is buried in the estate.-History:...
. They were commissioned by Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough
Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough
Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough KG, PC , known as The Earl of Sunderland between 1729 and 1733, was a British soldier and politician. He briefly served as Lord Privy Seal in 1755...
and fifth Earl of Sunderland in 1733/34. When Lord Sunderland's youngest brother hon. Jack Spencer
John Spencer (British politician)
John Spencer was a British politician and an ancestor of the Earls Spencer.-Biography:Born the Hon. John Spencer, he was the youngest son of the 3rd Earl of Sunderland and his wife, Lady Anne Churchill. In 1732, he succeeded his cousin, William Godolphin, Marquess of Blandford as Member of...
died in 1746, their old school friend Fane became guardian of the son, the future 1st Earl Spencer
John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer
John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer was a British peer and politician.Spencer was born in 1734, at his family home, Althorp. He was the son of Hon. John Spencer and Georgiana Carolina Carteret , and a grandson of the 3rd Earl of Sunderland...
.