William Fermor, 1st Baron Leominster
Encyclopedia
William Fermor, 1st Baron Leominster (1648 - 1711), was an English connoisseur.
Fermor was the eldest son of Sir William Fermor, 1st Baronet, of Easton Neston
, Northamptonshire, by Mary, daughter of Hugh Perry of London and widow of Henry Noel, second son of Edward, viscount Campden. He succeeded as second baronet in 1671, was elected M.P. for Northampton in 1671 and again in 1679, and was elevated to the peerage, 12 April 1692, by the title of Baron Leominster of Leominster, Herefordshire. He was thrice married: first to Jane, daughter of Andrew Barker of Fairford, Gloucestershire, by whom he had a daughter, Elizabeth, who died unmarried in March 1705; secondly, to the Hon. Katherine Poulett, daughter of John, first lord Poulett, by whom he had Mary, married to Sir John Wodehouse, fourth baronet, of Kimberley, Norfolk; and, thirdly, to Lady Sophia Osborne, daughter of Thomas, first duke of Leeds, and widow of Donogh, lord Ibrackan, grandson and heir of Henry, seventh earl of Thomond. By this lady, who survived until 8 December 1746, he had a son, Thomas, and four daughters.
Leominster built the house and planned the gardens and plantations at Easton Neston
. The house was completed by Nicholas Hawksmoor
in 1702, about twenty years after the erection of the wings by Sir Christopher Wren
. He adorned the whole with part of the Arundel marbles
which he had purchased and which his son had actually the temerity to attempt to restore with the assistance of the Italian sculptor Giovanni Battista Guelfi, 'a scholar of Camillo Rusconi
.' The collection was afterwards greatly neglected. ‘Coming back,’ writes Horace Walpole to George Montagu on 20 May 1736, ‘we saw Easton Neston, where in an old greenhouse is a wonderful fine statue of Tully haranguing a numerous assembly of decayed emperors, vestal virgins with new noses, Colossus's, Venus's, headless carcases, and carcaseless heads, pieces of tombs, and hieroglyphics’. The marbles were presented in 1755 to the university of Oxford by Henrietta Louisa, countess of Pomfret. A description of Easton Neston and its art treasures is included in the Catalogue of the Duke of Buckingham's Pictures, 4to, London, 1758 (pp. 53–66).
Leominster died 7 December 1711, and was succeeded by his only son, Thomas, who was advanced to an earldom 27 Dec. 1721 by the title of Earl of Pomfret
, or Pontefract, Yorkshire.
Fermor was the eldest son of Sir William Fermor, 1st Baronet, of Easton Neston
Easton Neston
Easton Neston is a country house near Towcester, Northamptonshire, England, and is part of the Easton Neston Parish. It was designed in the Baroque style by the architect Nicholas Hawksmoor. Easton Neston is thought to be the only mansion which was solely the work of Hawksmoor...
, Northamptonshire, by Mary, daughter of Hugh Perry of London and widow of Henry Noel, second son of Edward, viscount Campden. He succeeded as second baronet in 1671, was elected M.P. for Northampton in 1671 and again in 1679, and was elevated to the peerage, 12 April 1692, by the title of Baron Leominster of Leominster, Herefordshire. He was thrice married: first to Jane, daughter of Andrew Barker of Fairford, Gloucestershire, by whom he had a daughter, Elizabeth, who died unmarried in March 1705; secondly, to the Hon. Katherine Poulett, daughter of John, first lord Poulett, by whom he had Mary, married to Sir John Wodehouse, fourth baronet, of Kimberley, Norfolk; and, thirdly, to Lady Sophia Osborne, daughter of Thomas, first duke of Leeds, and widow of Donogh, lord Ibrackan, grandson and heir of Henry, seventh earl of Thomond. By this lady, who survived until 8 December 1746, he had a son, Thomas, and four daughters.
Leominster built the house and planned the gardens and plantations at Easton Neston
Easton Neston
Easton Neston is a country house near Towcester, Northamptonshire, England, and is part of the Easton Neston Parish. It was designed in the Baroque style by the architect Nicholas Hawksmoor. Easton Neston is thought to be the only mansion which was solely the work of Hawksmoor...
. The house was completed by Nicholas Hawksmoor
Nicholas Hawksmoor
Nicholas Hawksmoor was a British architect born in Nottinghamshire, probably in East Drayton.-Life:Hawksmoor was born in Nottinghamshire in 1661, into a yeoman farming family, almost certainly in East Drayton, Nottinghamshire. On his death he was to leave property at nearby Ragnall, Dunham and a...
in 1702, about twenty years after the erection of the wings by Sir Christopher Wren
Christopher Wren
Sir Christopher Wren FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...
. He adorned the whole with part of the Arundel marbles
Arundel marbles
The Arundelian Marbles are a collection of Greek marbles collected by Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel in the early seventeenth century, the first such comprehensive collection of its kind in England...
which he had purchased and which his son had actually the temerity to attempt to restore with the assistance of the Italian sculptor Giovanni Battista Guelfi, 'a scholar of Camillo Rusconi
Camillo Rusconi
Camillo Rusconi was an Italian sculptor of the late Baroque in Rome. His style displays both features of Baroque and Neoclassicism. He has been described as a Carlo Maratta in marble.-Biography:...
.' The collection was afterwards greatly neglected. ‘Coming back,’ writes Horace Walpole to George Montagu on 20 May 1736, ‘we saw Easton Neston, where in an old greenhouse is a wonderful fine statue of Tully haranguing a numerous assembly of decayed emperors, vestal virgins with new noses, Colossus's, Venus's, headless carcases, and carcaseless heads, pieces of tombs, and hieroglyphics’. The marbles were presented in 1755 to the university of Oxford by Henrietta Louisa, countess of Pomfret. A description of Easton Neston and its art treasures is included in the Catalogue of the Duke of Buckingham's Pictures, 4to, London, 1758 (pp. 53–66).
Leominster died 7 December 1711, and was succeeded by his only son, Thomas, who was advanced to an earldom 27 Dec. 1721 by the title of Earl of Pomfret
Earl of Pomfret
Earl of Pomfret , in the County of York, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1721 for Thomas Fermor, 2nd Baron Leominster. The Fermor family descended from Richard Fermor who acquired great wealth as a merchant. However, he fell out with Henry VIII after remaining an...
, or Pontefract, Yorkshire.