Frederick Richards Leyland (30 September 1831 – 4 January 1892) was one of the largest British shipowners, running 25 steamships in the

transatlantic trade Transatlantic relations refer to the historic, cultural, political, economic and social relations between countries on both side of the Atlantic Ocean. Sometimes it specifically means relationships between the Anglophone North American countr ...

. He was also a major art collector, who commissioned works from several of the

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, Jam ...

painters.

Career

Symphony in flesh color and pink by JM Whistler, 1871-74

Leyland served as an apprentice in the firm of John Bibby, Sons & Co, where he rose to become a partner. In 1867, he took on the tenancy of

Speke Hall Speke Hall is a wood-framed wattle-and-daub Tudor manor house in Speke, Liverpool, England. It is one of the finest surviving examples of its kind. It is owned by the National Trust and is a Grade I listed building. History Construction of t ...

, Liverpool, and in 1869 bought a house in London at 49 Princes Gate. At the end of 1872, when the Bibby partnership dissolved, he bought out his employers and changed the company name to the Leyland Line in 1873. Under his direction the line expanded into transatlantic trade and by 1882 had 25 steamships. He retired from active business in 1888, leaving his son Frederick Dawson Leyland in charge.Linda Merrill
"Leyland, Frederick Richards (1831–1892)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved 4 November 2015]

Art patron

Leyland's first commissions were to

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...

and

James Abbott McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading pr ...

, dating from 1864 and 1867. Leyland collected Renaissance art, as well as that of the

Pre-Raphaelites The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, Jam ...

, Whistler and Albert Moore. Leyland commissioned ''

The Beguiling of Merlin ''The Beguiling of Merlin'' is a painting by the British Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Burne-Jones that was created between 1872 and 1877. The painting depicts a scene from the Arthurian legend about the infatuation of Merlin with the Lady of the ...

'', a painting by the Pre-Raphaelite painter

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August, 183317 June, 1898) was a British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, Ford Madox Brown and Holman ...

, which was created between 1872 and 1877. The painting depicts a scene from

Arthurian King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as ...

legend, the infatuation of

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...

with the

Lady of the Lake The Lady of the Lake (french: Dame du Lac, Demoiselle du Lac, cy, Arglwyddes y Llyn, kw, Arloedhes an Lynn, br, Itron al Lenn, it, Dama del Lago) is a name or a title used by several either fairy or fairy-like but human enchantresses in the ...

, Nimue. Merlin is shown trapped, helpless in a hawthorn bush as Nimue reads from a book of spells. In the 1870s, Leyland commissioned Whistler and Jeckyll to decorate his dining room. The resulting '' Peacock Room'' is considered one of Whistler's greatest works. After Leyland's death, his widow sold ''The Peacock Room'' to the American industrialist and art collector

Charles Lang Freer Charles Lang Freer (February 25, 1854 – September 25, 1919) was an American industrialist, art collector, and patron. He is known for his large collection of East Asian, American, and Middle Eastern Art. In 1906, Freer donated his extensive co ...

who had it dismantled and shipped to the United States. It is now in the

Smithsonian Museum The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

Freer Gallery of Art The Freer Gallery of Art is an art museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. focusing on Asian art. The Freer and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery together form the National Museum of Asian Art in the United States. The Freer and S ...

in Washington, DC.

Later life

Leyland died in 1892, one of the largest shipowners in Britain, and is buried in

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Es ...

, London. The grave is 10m west of the main path between the north entrance and colonnade but is highly recognisable due to its unique form and design.

Legacy

In 1892, John Ellerman made his first move into shipping by leading a consortium which purchased the Leyland Line of the late Frederick Richards Leyland. In 1901, Ellerman sold this business to J.P. Morgan for £1.2 million, which was immediately folded into the

International Mercantile Marine Co. The International Mercantile Marine Company, originally the International Navigation Company, was a trust formed in the early twentieth century as an attempt by J.P. Morgan to monopolize the shipping trade. IMM was founded by shipping magnate ...

Leyland's

funerary monument Funerary art is any work of art forming, or placed in, a repository for the remains of the dead. The term encompasses a wide variety of forms, including cenotaphs ("empty tombs"), tomb-like monuments which do not contain human remains, and comm ...

is the only such work by

– the finest

Arts and Crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

funerary monument in the UK, and

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ire ...

* listed.

Personal life

Leyland married Frances ''née'' Dawson (1834–1910) on 23 March 1855, but they separated in 1879, possibly because of his liaison with his married mistress Rosa Laura Caldecott,'' née'' Gately (d. 1890). He and Frances had four children together: Frederick Dawson (b. 1856), Fanny (b. 1857), Florence (b. 1859, married

Valentine Cameron Prinsep Valentine Cameron "Val" Prinsep (14 February 18384 November 1904) was a British painter of the Pre-Raphaelite school. Early life Born in Calcutta, India, he was the second child of Henry Thoby Prinsep, a civil servant of the British Raj, and ...

), and Elinor (1861–1952). Rosa bore a son named Frederick Richards Leyland Caldecott in 1883. Leyland had two further sons with his mistress Annie Ellen Wooster, Frederick Richards (b.1884) and Francis George Leyland Wooster (b.1890).

References

External links

"Leyland, Frederick Richards (1831–1892)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004

at

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

Leyland Line History and Ephemera
GG Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Leyland, Frederick Richards 1831 births 1892 deaths English philanthropists English art collectors Burials at Brompton Cemetery Businesspeople from Liverpool English art patrons 19th-century English businesspeople