James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos
Encyclopedia
James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, MP
, PC (6 January 1673 – 9 August 1744) was the first of fourteen children by Sir James Brydges
, 3rd Baronet of Wilton Castle, Sheriff of Herefordshire, 8th Baron Chandos; and Elizabeth Barnard. Three days after his father's death on 16 October 1714, when he became 9th Baron Chandos, he was created 1st Viscount Wilton and 1st Earl of Carnarvon
; he became 1st Duke of Chandos
and 1st Marquess of Carnarvon in 1719. He was a Member of Parliament
for Hereford
from 1698 to 1714.
On 2 February 1695, Brydges married Mary Lake, daughter of Sir Thomas Lake (of Cannons, Middlesex) and Rebecca Langham. They had two children who survived childhood. She died on 15 September 1712.
Second marriage
After Mary's death, he married Cassandra Willoughby
on 4 August 1713. She was the daughter of
Francis Willoughby
and Emma Barnard. They had no children. She died 18 July 1735.
Third marriage
On 18 April 1736, the Duke married Lydia Catherine Van Hatten, the daughter of John Van Hatten and Lydia Davall. They had no children.
and New College, Oxford
. In 1694 he was elected to the Royal Society
.
During the War of the Spanish Succession
, Brydges was paymaster-general
of the forces abroad, and in this capacity he amassed great wealth. The ethics of his financial operations were called into question at the time, but it was generally accepted that people could profit from public office. He continued to engage in speculative investments after being made Duke of Chandos in 1719, but with less success - he lost money in the South Sea Bubble and the York Buildings Company
.
Brydges built a magnificent house "at vast expense" at Cannons
, an estate near Edgware
in Middlesex
. There Brydges ran through several architects prominent in the English Baroque
. He began in 1713 with William Talman
, whom he dismissed in favour of John James in 1714; James had partly executed his designs before James Gibbs
succeeded him in 1715. Howard Colvin (ref) concludes that the south and east elevations, as well as the chapel, were the designs of Gibbs. Brydges dismissed Gibbs in 1719, and completed the house under the supervision of John Price and, in 1723–25, Edward Shepherd. Cannons was demolished in 1747. On its site, now incorporated in Greater London
, is Canons Park
.
Brydges is said to have contemplated the construction of a private road across his own lands between this place and his never completed house in Cavendish Square
, London
, probably also designed by Gibbs.
Chandos was Lord Lieutenant
of the counties of Hereford and Radnor
, and Chancellor
of the University of St Andrews
(where he established the Chandos Chair of Medicine and Anatomy
in 1721). He also became involved in the efforts to create a home for foundlings in London that would alleviate the problem of child abandonment
in the capital. The charity, called the Foundling Hospital
, received its royal charter
in 1739, on which the Duke is listed as a governor.
He served as an early patron to his relative George Rodney, later to became famous for his victoriy at the Battle of the Saintes
, during his early career in the navy.
, and with Alexander Pope
, seen as having slandered Chandos in one of his poems.
, with the composer playing the organ of 1716 which has survived there to the present day.
In 1719 Chandos was one of main subscribers in the Royal Academy of Music
, not the well-known conservatoire of that name but a corporation that produced baroque opera on stage in London.
, who in his Moral Essays (Epistle to the Earl of Burlington) was alleged to have ridiculed Cannons under the guise of Timon's Villa, later referred to the Duke in the line, "Thus gracious Chandos is belov'd at sight"; but Jonathan Swift
, less complimentary, called him a great with every court. The poet was caricatured by Hogarth
for his supposed servility to Chandos. Pope published a denial of his alleged satire of the Duke's estate, in which he said that the estate of the poem "differs in every particular from" Chandos's. According to Pope biographer Maynard Mack, Chandos thereafter assured Pope by letter that he believed him, i.e. that the Epistle to Burlington was not intended as a satire of his estate. The malice, indeed, was on the part not of Pope, but of the insinuators and slanderers, the hack writers whom Pope had ridiculed as dunces in his Dunciad; Mack calls the affair a "falsehood of considerable damage to [Pope's] character".
.
He was succeeded by his son, Henry Brydges, 2nd Duke of Chandos
, who found the estate so encumbered by debt that a demolition sale of Cannons was held in 1747, which dispersed furnishings and structural elements, with the result that elements of Cannons survive in several English country houses, notably Lord Foley
's house at Great Witley
, and its chapel (completed in 1735—ceiling paintings by Bellucci and stained glass by Joshua Price of York
after designs by Francesco Sleter
). The pulpit and other fittings from Chandos's chapel were reinstalled in the parish church at Fawley, Buckinghamshire, by John Freeman of Fawley Court
.
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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,...
, PC (6 January 1673 – 9 August 1744) was the first of fourteen children by Sir James Brydges
James Brydges, 8th Baron Chandos
James Brydges, 8th Baron Chandos was English Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.A graduate of St John's College, Oxford Brydges became 3rd Baronet, of Wilton, Herefordshire in 1651 and 8th Baron Chandos of Sudeley in 1686 following the death of his relative William Brydges.Lord Chandos had...
, 3rd Baronet of Wilton Castle, Sheriff of Herefordshire, 8th Baron Chandos; and Elizabeth Barnard. Three days after his father's death on 16 October 1714, when he became 9th Baron Chandos, he was created 1st Viscount Wilton and 1st Earl of Carnarvon
Earl of Carnarvon
Earl of Carnarvon is a title that has been created three times in British history. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1628 in favour of Robert Dormer, 2nd Baron Dormer. For more information on this creation, which became extinct in 1709, see the Baron Dormer.The title was created...
; he became 1st Duke of Chandos
Duke of Chandos
The title Baron Chandos has been created twice in the Peerage of England. It was first created in 1337 when Roger de Chandos was summoned to parliament. It became extinct on his death....
and 1st Marquess of Carnarvon in 1719. He was a 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,...
for Hereford
Hereford (UK Parliament constituency)
Hereford was, until 2010, a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Since 1918, it had elected one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post voting system....
from 1698 to 1714.
Marriages and children
First marriageOn 2 February 1695, Brydges married Mary Lake, daughter of Sir Thomas Lake (of Cannons, Middlesex) and Rebecca Langham. They had two children who survived childhood. She died on 15 September 1712.
- John Brydges, Marquess of Carnarvon (15 January 1703 – 8 April 1727)
- Henry Brydges, 2nd Duke of ChandosHenry Brydges, 2nd Duke of ChandosHenry Brydges, 2nd Duke of Chandos, MP , known from 1727 to 1744 by his courtesy title Marquess of Carnarvon, was the second son of James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos PC and his first wife Mary Lake...
(1 February 1708 – 28 November 1771)
Second marriage
After Mary's death, he married Cassandra Willoughby
Cassandra Willoughby, Duchess of Chandos
Cassandra Willoughby, Duchess of Chandos was a British historian, travel writer and artist.She was the daughter of Francis Willoughby of Wollaton, Nottinghamshire, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and a writer on natural history, and his wife Emma, the daughter of Sir Henry Barnard of Bridgnorth,...
on 4 August 1713. She was the daughter of
Francis Willoughby
Francis Willughby
thumbnail|200px|right|A page from the Ornithologia, showing [[Jackdaw]], [[Chough]], [[European Magpie|Magpie]] and [[Eurasian Jay|Jay]], all [[Corvidae|crows]]....
and Emma Barnard. They had no children. She died 18 July 1735.
Third marriage
On 18 April 1736, the Duke married Lydia Catherine Van Hatten, the daughter of John Van Hatten and Lydia Davall. They had no children.
Career
Brydges was educated at Westminster SchoolWestminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
and New College, Oxford
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
. In 1694 he was elected to the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
.
During the War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
, Brydges was paymaster-general
Paymaster
A paymaster often is, but is not required to be, a lawyer . When dealing with commission payments on contracts dealing with large amounts of money , most banks in the United States are very wary of handling such large amounts of money...
of the forces abroad, and in this capacity he amassed great wealth. The ethics of his financial operations were called into question at the time, but it was generally accepted that people could profit from public office. He continued to engage in speculative investments after being made Duke of Chandos in 1719, but with less success - he lost money in the South Sea Bubble and the York Buildings Company
York Buildings Company
The York Buildings Company was an English company in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.-Waterworks:The full name of the company was The Governor and Company for raising the Thames Water at York Buildings...
.
Brydges built a magnificent house "at vast expense" at Cannons
Cannons (house)
Cannons was a stately home in Little Stanmore, Middlesex built for James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos between 1713 and 1724 at a cost of £200,000 but which in 1747 was razed and its contents dispersed....
, an estate near Edgware
Edgware
Edgware is an area in London, situated north-northwest of Charing Cross. It forms part of both the London Borough of Barnet and the London Borough of Harrow. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
in Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
. There Brydges ran through several architects prominent in the English Baroque
English Baroque
English Baroque is a term sometimes used to refer to the developments in English architecture that were parallel to the evolution of Baroque architecture in continental Europe between the Great Fire of London and the Treaty of Utrecht ....
. He began in 1713 with William Talman
William Talman (architect)
William Talman was an English architect and landscape designer. A pupil of Sir Christopher Wren, in 1678 he and Thomas Apprice gained the office of King's Waiter in the Port of London...
, whom he dismissed in favour of John James in 1714; James had partly executed his designs before James Gibbs
James Gibbs
James Gibbs was one of Britain's most influential architects. Born in Scotland, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England...
succeeded him in 1715. Howard Colvin (ref) concludes that the south and east elevations, as well as the chapel, were the designs of Gibbs. Brydges dismissed Gibbs in 1719, and completed the house under the supervision of John Price and, in 1723–25, Edward Shepherd. Cannons was demolished in 1747. On its site, now incorporated in Greater London
Greater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...
, is Canons Park
Canons Park
Canons Park is a residential suburb of London, situated in the north west London Borough of Harrow. It is located to the south of Stanmore, the west of Edgware, and the east of Wealdstone.-Etymology and history:...
.
Brydges is said to have contemplated the construction of a private road across his own lands between this place and his never completed house in Cavendish Square
Cavendish Square
Cavendish Square is a public square in the West End of London, very close to Oxford Circus, where the two main shopping thoroughfares of Oxford Street and Regent Street meet. It is located at the eastern end of Wigmore Street, which connects it to Portman Square, part of the Portman Estate, to its...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, probably also designed by Gibbs.
Chandos was Lord Lieutenant
Lord Lieutenant
The title Lord Lieutenant is given to the British monarch's personal representatives in the United Kingdom, usually in a county or similar circumscription, with varying tasks throughout history. Usually a retired local notable, senior military officer, peer or business person is given the post...
of the counties of Hereford and Radnor
Radnor
Radnor may refer to various places:United Kingdom* Radnorshire, Wales* New Radnor, Powys, Wales* Radnor Wood, Clun, Shropshire, EnglandUnited States* Radnor, Indiana* Radnor Township, Peoria County, Illinois* Radnor, Ohio...
, and Chancellor
Chancellor of the University of St Andrews
The Chancellor is the titular head of the University of St Andrews. His duties include conferring degrees, promoting the University’s image throughout the world, and furthering its interests, both within Scotland and beyond....
of the University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...
(where he established the Chandos Chair of Medicine and Anatomy
Chandos Chair of Medicine and Anatomy
The Chandos Chair of Medicine and Anatomy is a Chair in Medicine and Anatomy of the University of St Andrews, Scotland. It was established in 1721, by a bequest of £1000 from James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos - then the Chancellor of the University...
in 1721). He also became involved in the efforts to create a home for foundlings in London that would alleviate the problem of child abandonment
Child abandonment
Child abandonment is the practice of relinquishing interests and claims over one's offspring with the intent of never again resuming or reasserting them. Causes include many social and cultural factors as well as mental illness. An abandoned child is called a foundling .-Causes:Poverty is often a...
in the capital. The charity, called the Foundling Hospital
Foundling Hospital
The Foundling Hospital in London, England was founded in 1741 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children." The word "hospital" was used in a more general sense than it is today, simply...
, received its royal charter
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
in 1739, on which the Duke is listed as a governor.
He served as an early patron to his relative George Rodney, later to became famous for his victoriy at the Battle of the Saintes
Battle of the Saintes
The Battle of the Saintes took place over 4 days, 9 April 1782 – 12 April 1782, during the American War of Independence, and was a victory of a British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney over a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse forcing the French and Spanish to abandon a planned...
, during his early career in the navy.
Handel and Pope
The Duke is chiefly remembered on account of his connections with Georg Frideric Handel, for whom he acted as a major patronPatronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...
, and with Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
, seen as having slandered Chandos in one of his poems.
Chandos and Handel
Before Chandos was made a duke, he employed the young composer Georg Frideric Handel over a period of two years, 1717–18. Handel lived at Cannons, where he composed his oratorio Esther and his pastoral opera Acis and Galatea. Handel also composed the Chandos Anthems for his patron; they were first performed at the parish church of St Lawrence, WhitchurchWhitchurch, London
Little Stanmore is a locality in the London Borough of Harrow in London, England.-Toponymy:Little Stanmore was named to distinguish it from Great Stanmore, which is now known as Stanmore. The parish was also known as Whitchurch. Whitchurch is a common English place-name meaning 'white church', and...
, with the composer playing the organ of 1716 which has survived there to the present day.
In 1719 Chandos was one of main subscribers in the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music (company)
The Royal Academy of Music was a company founded in February 1719, during George Frideric Handel's residence at Cannons, by a group of aristocrats to secure themselves a constant supply of baroque opera or opera seria. It commissioned large numbers of new operas from three of the leading composers...
, not the well-known conservatoire of that name but a corporation that produced baroque opera on stage in London.
Chandos and Pope
Alexander PopeAlexander Pope
Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
, who in his Moral Essays (Epistle to the Earl of Burlington) was alleged to have ridiculed Cannons under the guise of Timon's Villa, later referred to the Duke in the line, "Thus gracious Chandos is belov'd at sight"; but Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
, less complimentary, called him a great with every court. The poet was caricatured by Hogarth
Hogarth
-People:* Burne Hogarth, American cartoonist, illustrator, educator and author* David George Hogarth, English archaeologist* Donald Hogarth, Canadian politician and mining financier* Paul Hogarth, English painter and illustrator...
for his supposed servility to Chandos. Pope published a denial of his alleged satire of the Duke's estate, in which he said that the estate of the poem "differs in every particular from" Chandos's. According to Pope biographer Maynard Mack, Chandos thereafter assured Pope by letter that he believed him, i.e. that the Epistle to Burlington was not intended as a satire of his estate. The malice, indeed, was on the part not of Pope, but of the insinuators and slanderers, the hack writers whom Pope had ridiculed as dunces in his Dunciad; Mack calls the affair a "falsehood of considerable damage to [Pope's] character".
After his death
Chandos was buried at St Lawrence, Whitchurch, next to his first two wives. His third wife, who survived him, moved to Shaw House, BerkshireShaw House, Berkshire
Shaw House is an important example of an early symmetrical H-plan Elizabethan mansion, located at Shaw, on the north-eastern outskirts of Newbury in Berkshire.-History:...
.
He was succeeded by his son, Henry Brydges, 2nd Duke of Chandos
Henry Brydges, 2nd Duke of Chandos
Henry Brydges, 2nd Duke of Chandos, MP , known from 1727 to 1744 by his courtesy title Marquess of Carnarvon, was the second son of James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos PC and his first wife Mary Lake...
, who found the estate so encumbered by debt that a demolition sale of Cannons was held in 1747, which dispersed furnishings and structural elements, with the result that elements of Cannons survive in several English country houses, notably Lord Foley
Baron Foley
Baron Foley is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Great Britain, both times for members of the same family. The first creation came in 1712 in favour of Thomas Foley, who had earlier represented Stafford in the House of Commons. He was the grandson of the prominent ironmaster...
's house at Great Witley
Great Witley
Great Witley is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District in the northwest of the county of Worcestershire, England...
, and its chapel (completed in 1735—ceiling paintings by Bellucci and stained glass by Joshua Price of York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
after designs by Francesco Sleter
Francesco Sleter
Franceso Sleter was an Italian painter, active in England.He was born in Venice. He is believed to have studied under Gregorio Lazzarini. He was in England by 1719 when he designed the stained glass windows for James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos in the chapel at Cannons, these are now in the...
). The pulpit and other fittings from Chandos's chapel were reinstalled in the parish church at Fawley, Buckinghamshire, by John Freeman of Fawley Court
Fawley Court
Fawley Court is a country house standing on the banks of the River Thames at Fawley in the English county of Buckinghamshire, just north of Henley-on-Thames. The former deer park extended over the border into Oxfordshire...
.
Further reading
- Joan Johnson, 1989. Princely Chandos: James Brydges 1674-1744
- C.H. and M.I. Collins Baker, 1949. The Life and Circumstances of James Brydges,: First Duke of Chandos, Patron of the Liberal Arts (Oxford University: Clarendon Press). Still the standard work on Chandos and Cannons
- (Henry St. John, Lord Bolingbroke) 1935. Letters of Henry St. John to James Brydges (Harvard University Press)
- John Robert Robinson , The princely Chandos, a memoir of James Brydges, paymaster-general to the forces abroad during the most brilliant part of the Duke of Marlborough's military ... afterwards the first Duke of Chandos
External links
- The Rise and Fall of Henry James Bridges, First Duke of Chandos, for whom Handel composed the Chandos Anthems, an interesting illustrated article (which appears to have some minor inaccuracies, e.g. the statement that Francesco ScarlattiFrancesco ScarlattiFrancesco Scarlatti was an Italian Baroque composer and musician and brother of the better known Alessandro Scarlatti....
worked at Cannons). - Six Chandos Anthems, program notes to a 2-CD recording.
- The Dukes of Chandos
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