Richard Wallace, 1st Baronet
Encyclopedia
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...
art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
collector.
He was the illegitimate son of Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford
Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford
Captain Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford KG was the son of Francis Seymour-Conway, 3rd Marquess of Hertford....
, for whom he worked as secretary, and inherited his unentailed
Fee tail
At common law, fee tail or entail is an estate of inheritance in real property which cannot be sold, devised by will, or otherwise alienated by the owner, but which passes by operation of law to the owner's heirs upon his death...
father's estates, and extensive collection of European art in 1871. Wallace expanded the collection himself, and in 1897, after his death, the collection was donated to the nation by Wallace's widow. It is now located in what was his London home, Hertford House, Manchester Square, London - which houses the Wallace Collection
Wallace Collection
The Wallace Collection is a museum in London, with a world-famous range of fine and decorative arts from the 15th to the 19th centuries with large holdings of French 18th-century paintings, furniture, arms & armour, porcelain and Old Master paintings arranged into 25 galleries.It was established in...
. His bequests to the people of Lisburn
Lisburn
DemographicsLisburn Urban Area is within Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area and is classified as a Large Town by the . On census day there were 71,465 people living in Lisburn...
in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
include the Wallace Park
Wallace Park
The Wallace Park in Lisburn, Northern Ireland was bequeathed to the people of Lisburn by Sir Richard Wallace. It is a pleasant park with tree-lined walkways. There is a number of football pitches, tennis courts, a duck pond and a children's adventure play area...
and The Wallace High School
Wallace High School (Northern Ireland)
The Wallace High School is a co-educational voluntary grammar school situated in Lisburn, Northern Ireland.It was founded in 1880 by a bequest from the estate of Sir Richard Wallace, local landowner and Unionist MP, as the Lisburn Intermediate and University School on a site fronting the Antrim Road...
. His town house on Lisburn's Castle Street is now used as offices by the South Eastern Regional College
South Eastern Regional College
South Eastern Regional College is a regional further and higher education college in the south-east of Northern Ireland.SERC was created following the merger of three Institutes of Further and Higher Education in the south-east of Northern Ireland. These were East Down Institute, Lisburn...
. His country house at Sudbourne
Sudbourne
Sudbourne is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England, located approximately north of Orford.Sudbourne is recognisable for Captain's Wood, a nature reserve owned by Suffolk Wildlife Trust and Crag Farm Pit which is listed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Suffolk. Sudbourne is also...
Hall, near Orford
Orford, Suffolk
Orford is a small town in Suffolk, England, within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB.Like many Suffolk coastal towns it was of some importance as a port and fishing village in the Middle Ages. It still has a fine mediaeval castle, built to dominate the River Ore.The main geographical feature of the...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, was demolished during the 20th century.
Despite his father's penurious reputation, Wallace achieved fame during the Siege of Paris
Siege of Paris
The Siege of Paris, lasting from September 19, 1870 – January 28, 1871, and the consequent capture of the city by Prussian forces led to French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and the establishment of the German Empire as well as the Paris Commune....
for notable acts of charity.
At his own expense, Wallace organized two full scale ambulances to operate during the siege; one to serve French wounded, and the second for the benefit of sick and destitute Britons."
By the end of the siege, Wallace is estimated to have privately contributed as much as 2.5 million (1870) francs to the needy of Paris. This is perhaps equivalent to $6.5 million in 2010 money. As a result, Wallace was thought to be the most popular British citizen inhabiting Paris during the siege. The last balloon
Balloon
A balloon is an inflatable flexible bag filled with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. Modern balloons can be made from materials such as rubber, latex, polychloroprene, or a nylon fabric, while some early balloons were made of dried animal bladders, such as the pig...
to leave Paris before its capitulation was named for him as was a Paris boulevard
Boulevard
A Boulevard is type of road, usually a wide, multi-lane arterial thoroughfare, divided with a median down the centre, and roadways along each side designed as slow travel and parking lanes and for bicycle and pedestrian usage, often with an above-average quality of landscaping and scenery...
. He received a Legion d'Honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
for his efforts.
Wallace was created baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
in 1871 and was a Conservative and Unionist 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 Lisburn
Lisburn (UK Parliament constituency)
Lisburn was a United Kingdom Parliament constituency, in Ireland, returning one MP. It was an original constituency represented in Parliament when the Union of Great Britain and Ireland took effect on 1 January 1801.-Boundaries:...
from 1873 to 1885. He was Honorary President of Ipswich Museum
Ipswich Museum
Ipswich Museum is a registered museum of culture, history and natural heritage located on High Street in Ipswich, the County Town of the English county of Suffolk...
from 1874 until his death.
In 1872 he donated 50 drinking fountains, known as Wallace fountains, to the City of Paris and to Lisburn
Lisburn
DemographicsLisburn Urban Area is within Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area and is classified as a Large Town by the . On census day there were 71,465 people living in Lisburn...
. Some can still be seen today. Upon his death in 1890, he was interred in Le Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
In 1883 he won a Silver medal at the Smithfield Show as breeder of the best "Single Pig" in class LXXXVI; he lived at Wickham Market
Wickham Market
Wickham Market is a large village situated in the River Deben valley of Suffolk, England, within the Suffolk Coastal heritage area.It is on the A12 trunk road thirteen miles north-east of the county town of Ipswich, five miles north-east of Woodbridge. Its railway station is located approximately...
in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
at the time.