John Rushout, 2nd Baron Northwick (16 February 1770-20 January 1859) was an English peer, landowner and collector of art works.

Rushout was the son of John Rushout, 1st Baron Northwick

John Rushout, 1st Baron Northwick

Sir John Rushout, 1st Baron Northwick was a British politician and Member of Parliament for Evesham....

 and his wife Rebecca Bowles. He was educated at a school at Hackney

London Borough of Hackney

The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....

 rather than Eton like his father and did not go to an English university. Instead he was sent to Neuchâtel in Switzerland. In 1790 he visited Italy and while touring the continent became friends with many eminent men including Edward Gibbon

Edward Gibbon

Edward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament...

, Horatio Nelson, Sir William Hamilton (diplomat)

William Hamilton (diplomat)

Sir William Hamilton KB, PC, FRS was a Scottish diplomat, antiquarian, archaeologist and vulcanologist. After a short period as a Member of Parliament, he served as British Ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples from 1764 to 1800...

  and his wife Emma Hamilton, Richard Payne Knight

Richard Payne Knight

Richard Payne Knight was a classical scholar and connoisseur best known for his theories of picturesque beauty and for his interest in ancient phallic imagery.-Biography:...

, and the Italian artists Antonio Canova

Antonio Canova

Antonio Canova was an Italian sculptor from the Republic of Venice who became famous for his marble sculptures that delicately rendered nude flesh...

, and Vicenzo Camuccini. While he was living at the Bay of Palermo

Palermo

Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...

 the was stranded there, and as a result he was the first man in Europe to receive the news of the victory of the Battle of the Nile

Battle of the Nile

The Battle of the Nile was a major naval battle fought between British and French fleets at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt from 1–3 August 1798...

, hearing it from Nelson himself. He was also party to a less glorious incident of Nelson's career, as he was at Nelson's table in the flagship when a gun announced the execution of Caraccioli.

Rushout developed a love of antique art from Sir William Hamilton and with Hamilton and Payne Knight purchased several collections of coins and other works of art. His art collection was to include paintings by contemporary artists as well as Old Masters, miniatures, enamels prints, coins and other collectable items. He returned from Italy in 1800 when, on the death of his father, he succeeded to the titles of 6th Baronet Rushout, of Milnst and 2nd Baron Northwick

Baron Northwick

Baron Northwick, of Northwick Park in the County of Worcester, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in the 1797 for Sir John Rushout, 5th Baronet, for many years Member of Parliament for Evesham. He was succeeded by his son, the second Baron. He was a noted collector of art....

. He became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries

Society of Antiquaries of London

The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...

 (F.S.A.) in 1800. In 1832 he built a gallery for his collection at Northwick Park

Northwick Park, Gloucestershire

Northwick Park is a residential estate and business centre near Blockley in Gloucestershire, built in the grounds of the former family seat of the Rushout family, the Barons Northwick. The Northwick Park mansion, now divided into residential accommodation, is a Grade 1 listed building...

, near Moreton-in-Marsh

Moreton-in-Marsh

Moreton-in-Marsh is a town and civil parish in northeastern Gloucestershire, England. The town is at the crossroads of the Fosse Way Roman road and the A44. The parish and environs are relatively flat and low-lying compared with the surrounding Cotswold Hills...

, Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

, but this became too small. Northwick was a landowner behind many property developments in Cheltenham

Cheltenham

Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...

 and purchased Thirlestane House there to allow access to any art lovers who wanted to admire his collection. He also had a gallery at Connaught Place in London, which he sold with its contents in 1838.

Northwick appears in the accounts of Anthony Trollope

Anthony Trollope

Anthony Trollope was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire...

the author whose father had rented a poor farm from him at Harrow. As the farm failed, Trollope senior referred to Northwick as a 'cormorant who was eating us up' and fled to Belgium in 1834 to escape arrest for his debts.

Northwick died intestate in 1859 and as a result his collection was sold off and items from it appear in many major art collections around the world.