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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, James ...
painters.


Career

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, 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 and James Abbott McNeill Whistler, 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, James ...
, Whistler and Albert Moore. Leyland commissioned '' The Beguiling of Merlin'', a painting by the Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Burne-Jones, which was created between 1872 and 1877. The painting depicts a scene from Arthurian 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, 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 ''Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room'' (better known as ''The Peacock Room'') is a masterpiece of interior decorative art created by James McNeill Whistler and Thomas Jeckyll, translocated to the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Wh ...
'' 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 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 ...
's
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 Sac ...
in Washington, DC.


Later life

Leyland died in 1892, one of the largest shipowners in Britain, and is buried in Brompton Cemetery, 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 JP may refer to: Arts and media * ''JP'' (album), 2001, by American singer Jesse Powell * ''Jp'' (magazine), an American Jeep magazine * ''Jönköpings-Posten'', a Swedish newspaper * Judas Priest, an English heavy metal band * ''Jurassic Park ...
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 magnates ...
Leyland's funerary monument is the only such work by Edward Burne-Jones – 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 Irel ...
* 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), 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
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