Frederick Richards Leyland (30 September 1831 – 4 January 1892) was one of the largest British shipowners, running 25 steamships in the
transatlantic trade. He was also a major art collector, who commissioned works from several of the
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood 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
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 ...
, 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
The Leyland Line was a British shipping transport line founded in 1873 by Frederick Richards Leyland after his apprenticeship in the firm of John Bibby, Sons & Co. After Frederick Leyland's death, the company was taken over by Sir John Ellerm ...
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, Whistler and
Albert Moore.
Leyland commissioned ''
The Beguiling of Merlin'', 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 a ...
legend, the infatuation of
Merlin 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 col ...
who had it dismantled and shipped to the United States. It is now in the
Smithsonian Museum's
Freer Gallery of Art 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. Establ ...
, 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.
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
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 ...
– the finest
Arts and Crafts funerary monument in the UK, and
Grade II* 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