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Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater (May 21, 1736–March 8, 1803) (also the 6th Earl of Bridgewater), known as Lord Francis Egerton until 1748, was a British nobleman, younger son of the 1st duke. He did not marry, and the dukedom expired with him, although the earldom was retained through John William Egerton. is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Events January 26 - Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates his throne. ...
is the 67th day of the year (68th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
1803 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...
The title Earl of Bridgewater has been created twice in the Peerage of England. ...
John William Egerton, 7th Earl of Bridgewater FRS (14 April 1753-21 October 1823), known as John Egerton until 1803, was a British soldier and Tory politician. ...
He is famous as the originator of British inland navigation, the commissioner of the Bridgewater Canal – often said to be the first true canal in Britain and the modern world (see below for a qualificaiton) – which was built for him by James Brindley to service his coal mines at Worsley, in Lancashire. The Bridgewater Canal is a navigable canal in the north west of England, connecting Runcorn and Manchester. ...
For other uses, see Canal (disambiguation). ...
James Brindley. ...
Coal Coal (IPA: ) is a fossil fuel formed in swamp ecosystems where plant remains were saved by water and mud from oxidization and biodegradation. ...
Chuquicamata, the second largest open pit copper mine in the world, Chile. ...
For other uses, see Worsley (disambiguation). ...
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea. ...
Forebears
Scroop Egerton, 1st Duke of Bridgewater (1681-1745), was the son of the 3rd earl of Bridgewater, and was created a duke in 1720; he was the great-grandson of John Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgewater (d. 1649; cr. 1617), whose name is associated with the production of Milton's Comus; and the latter was the son of Sir Thomas Egerton (1540-1617), Queen Elizabeth's lord keeper and James I.'s lord chancellor, who was created baron of Ellesmere in 1603, and in 1616 Viscount Brackley. Scroop Egerton, 1st Duke of Bridgewater (1681 – 1744) was an Earl and Duke in the Peerage of Great Britain. ...
John Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgewater KB, PC (1579 – 4 December 1649) was an English peer and politician. ...
Biography of the 3rd Duke Francis Egerton succeeded to the dukedom at the age of twelve on the death of his brother, the 2nd duke. As a child he was sickly and of such unpromising intellectual capacity that at one time the idea of cutting the entail was seriously entertained. Shortly after attaining his majority he became engaged to the beautiful duchess of Hamilton, but her refusal to give up the acquaintance of her sister, Lady Coventry, led to the breaking off of the match. Thereupon the duke broke up his London establishment, and retiring to his estate at Worsley, devoted himself to the making of canals.
Great Works - the Worsley-Manchester and Liverpool-Manchester Canals The navigable canal from Worsley to Manchester which he projected for the transport of the coal obtained on his estates is usually cited as the first modern British canal (as opposed to a river navigation) - though the Sankey canal is a rival to this claim (projected a sa "navigation", but built as a true canal). The construction of Bridgewater's canal, with its famous aqueduct across the Irwell, was carried out by James Brindley, the celebrated engineer.
The completion of this first canal led the duke to undertake a still more ambitious work. In 1762 he obtained parliamentary powers to provide an improved waterway between Liverpool and Manchester by means of a canal. The difficulties encountered in the execution of this canal were still more formidable than those of the Worsley canal, involving, as they did, the carrying of the canal over Sale Moor Moss. But the genius of Brindley, his engineer, proved superior to all obstacles, and though at one period of the undertaking the financial resources of the duke were almost exhausted, the work was carried to a triumphant conclusion.
Both these canals were completed when the duke was only thirty-six years of age, and the remainder of his life was spent in extending them and in improving his estates; and during the latter years of his life he derived a princely income from the success of his enterprise. Though a steady supporter of Pitt's administration, he never took any prominent part in politics.
The untiring perseverance displayed by the duke in surmounting the various difficulties that retarded the accomplishment of his projects, together with the pecuniary restrictions he imposed on himself in order to supply the necessary capital (at one time he reduced his personal expenses to £400 a year), affords an instructive example of that energy and self-denial on which the success of great undertakings so much depends.
Wealth He accumulated great wealth through his canal and coal interests, and his annual income was said to have exceeded £80,000. The family owned three estates at the time, Belton House, a small Sussex estate, and the old house and 6,000 acres (24 km²) at his house of Ashridge. Ashridge Forest, April The Bridgewater Monument View from Bridgewater Monument to the house Ashridge is an estate and house in Hertfordshire, England; part of the land stretches into Buckinghamshire and it is close to the Bedfordshire border. ...
With the Bridgewater fortune now exceeding £2,000,000, and the Duke being the richest noble in England, he set about rebuilding Ashridge. He began to pull the old buildings down, but died before his plans could be completed, leaving his heir, John, 7th Earl, with nothing but a pile of rubble.
Legacy The Duke died unmarried on the 8th of March 1803, and the ducal title became extinct (although the earldom of Bridgewater passed to a cousin, John William Egerton, who became 7th earl).
By his will he devised his canals and estates on trust, under which his nephew, the marquess of Stafford (afterwards first duke of Sutherland), became the first beneficiary, and next his son Francis Leveson Gower (afterwards first earl of Ellesmere) and his issue. In order that the trust should last as long as possible, an extraordinary use was made of the legal rule that property may be settled for the duration of lives in being and twenty-one years after. The legatess were a great number of persons connected with the duke and their living issue, plus all peers who had taken their seats in the House of Lords on or before the duke's decease. The last of the peers died in 1857, but one of the commoners survived till the 19th of October 1883, so the trust did not expire till the 19th of October 1903, when the whole property passed under the undivided control of the earl of Ellesmere. (The canals, however, had in 1872 been transferred to the Bridgewater Navigation Company, by whom they were sold in 1887 to the Manchester Ship Canal Company.)
References - This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
Encyclopædia Britannica, the eleventh edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ...
The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...
External links - Duke of Bridgewater Archive from the University of Salford site
See also Wikisource has an original article from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica about: Bridgewater, Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of |
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