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Anthony Morris Storer (1746–1799) was an English man of fashion, politician and collector.
Life
Born on 12 March 1746, Anthony Morris Storer was elder son of Thomas Storer of Westmoreland, Jamaica (d. Golden Square, London, on 21 July 1793, aged 76), who married Helen, daughter of Colonel Guthrie. He was at
Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...
from about 1760 to 1764 with
Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the arch-riv ...
and
Earl Fitzwilliam
Earl Fitzwilliam (or FitzWilliam) was a title in both the Peerage of Ireland and the Peerage of Great Britain held by the head of the Fitzwilliam family (later Wentworth-Fitzwilliam).
History
The Fitzwilliams acquired extensive holdings in th ...
.
He was admitted a fellow-commoner of
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge in December 1764, but left without taking a degree.
Storer became a prominent figure of London's social world. Through patronage, he was both a man of fashion, and a Whig politician. During 1778 and 1779 he was in America with
Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle
Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle (28 May 1748 – 4 September 1825) was a British peer, statesman, diplomat, and author.
Life
He was the son of Henry Howard, 4th Earl of Carlisle and his second wife Isabella Byron. His mother was a ...
and
William Eden. He visited Carlisle in Ireland in 1781, and, through his interest, succeeded
Benjamin L'Anglois as a commissioner of the Board of Trade on 26 July 1781. Meanwhile, he sat in the House of Commons as Member for from 1774 to 1780, and subsequently—from 1780 to 1784—for .
Much of Storer's time was passed with the family of
Lord North
Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (13 April 17325 August 1792), better known by his courtesy title Lord North, which he used from 1752 to 1790, was 12th Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He led Great Britain through most o ...
, and in August 1782 he was a channel of communication between North and Fox. He enlisted in the
Fox–North Coalition
The Fox–North coalition was a government in Great Britain that held office during 1783.Chris Cook and John Stevenson, ''British Historical Facts 1760–1830'', Macmillan, 1980 As the name suggests, the ministry was a coalition of the groups s ...
; and in September 1783, to the indignation of
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English historian, writer, and member of parliament. His most important work, '' The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788, is ...
, who also aspired to the post, he was sent by Fox to Paris as secretary of the legation. On 13 December 1783, when the ambassador, the
Duke of Manchester
Duke of Manchester is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain, and the current senior title of the House of Montagu. It was created in 1719 for the politician Charles Montagu, 4th Earl of Manchester. Manchester Parish in Jamaica was named afte ...
, came home, Storer was nominated as minister plenipotentiary. Six days later his friends were ejected from office.
Storer's connection with politics then ceased. He had by that time quarrelled with Carlisle, and so did not seek re-election for Carlisle's borough of Morpeth after the dissolution of 1784.
In 1786 he was reading the Latin and Greek writers with
Edward Harwood
Edward Harwood (1729–1794) was a prolific English classical scholar and biblical critic.
Life
Harwood was born at Darwen, Lancashire, in 1729. After attending a school at Darwen, he went in 1745 to the Blackburn grammar school under Thomas Hu ...
, who used Storer's library. He was desirous in December 1787 of entering the diplomatic service, and in April 1793 he languished for employment; but his father's death in the same year brought him a fortune. He purchased
Purley Park, between
Pangbourne
Pangbourne is a large village and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Thames in Berkshire, England. Pangbourne has its own shops, schools, Pangbourne railway station, a railway station on the Great Western main line and a vill ...
and
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
and, with the advice of
Humphrey Repton
Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown; he also sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of ...
, improved and ornamented the grounds. His health was bad, however; he had been very ill in the winter of 1787–8, and he did not live to complete the house for the estate. But the mansion was erected after his death from the designs of Wyatt.
Repton left a rather unflattering description of his dealings with Storer in his personal journal published in Project Purley Vol 45 September 1997
Collection and Extra-illustration
According to
Horace Walpole, Storer began collecting books and prints in 1781, acerbically adding that Storer, as a man of fashion, was "a macaroni turned antiquary."
[Lucy Peltz, ''Facing the Text: Extra-Illustration, Print Culture, and Society in Britain, 1769–1840'' (San Marino, California: Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, 2017), p. 157. Distributed in the UK by Manchester University Press]
/ref> Although Storer complained of the "burden of having nothing to do" in 1787, having been three years out of Parliament, he was busy developing his library and print collection. In addition to early bindings, Storer collected Caxtons and other black-letter books, Greek and Latin classics, Italian literature and early English plays including the first three folios of Shakespeare. His interest in topography and extra-illustration Extra-illustration is the process whereby texts, normally in their published state, are customized by the incorporation of thematically linked prints, watercolors, and other visual materials.
History
Extra-illustration was a vibrant and widespread ...
is shown by a letter from Thomas Pennant
Thomas Pennant (14 June OS 172616 December 1798) was a Welsh naturalist, traveller, writer and antiquarian. He was born and lived his whole life at his family estate, Downing Hall near Whitford, Flintshire, in Wales.
As a naturalist he h ...
who wrote to Storer in 1782 saying that he wished "to contribute to his torer'samusements in his private hours."
Storer left his complete library to Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...
in 1799. His collection of prints and extra-illustrated books also went to Eton, the extra-illustrated works being stored in a specially designed press brought from his Devonshire Street residence and installed in the College library to house the bequest.[Illustrated in Lucy Peltz, ''Facing the Text: Extra-Illustration, Print Culture, and Society in Britain, 1769–1840'' (San Marino, California: Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, 2017), p. 159, figure 103. ] Despite the riches of Storer's library – 87 books extra-illustrated by Storer in 143 volumes – the only title named in his will is James Granger
James Granger (1723–1776) was an English clergyman, biographer, and print collector. He is now known as the author of the ''Biographical History of England from Egbert the Great to the Revolution'' (1769). Granger was an early advocate of an ...
's ''Biographical History of England''.
Death and legacy
Storer died at Bristol Hotwells on 28 June 1799, and was buried at Purley, a monument by Nollekens
Joseph Nollekens R.A. (11 August 1737 – 23 April 1823) was a sculptor from London generally considered to be the finest British sculptor of the late 18th century.
Life
Nollekens was born on 11 August 1737 at 28 Dean Street, Soho, London, ...
, with a Latin inscription, being erected to his memory in Purley church. Storer was elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...
on 11 December 1777, and became a member of the Dilettanti Society
The Society of Dilettanti (founded 1734) is a British society of noblemen and scholars that sponsors the study of ancient Greek and Roman art, and the creation of new work in the style.
History
Though the exact date is unknown, the Society is b ...
on 18 April 1790.
Storer's fortune was left to his nephew, Anthony Gilbert Storer, the only son of his brother Thomas James Storer, who had married the Hon. Elizabeth Proby, daughter of John Proby, 1st Baron Carysfort
John Proby, 1st Baron Carysfort KB PC (25 November 1720 – 18 October 1772) was a British Whig politician.
Life
He was the son of John Proby, of Elton Hall, Huntingdonshire, and his wife Jane, daughter of John Leveson-Gower, 1st Baron Gow ...
. The only other legacy was the sum of £1,000 to James Hare.
Letters by Storer are printed in John Heneage Jesse's ''George Selwyn and his Contemporaries'', vols. iii. and iv., and in the ''Correspondence of William Eden, Lord Auckland''.
Notes
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Storer, Anthony Morris
1746 births
1799 deaths
People educated at Eton College
Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
British diplomats
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
British MPs 1774–1780
British MPs 1780–1784
Deputy Lieutenants of Berkshire
Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Carlisle