John Leicester, 1st Baron de Tabley (4 April 1762 – 18 June 1827) was an English landowner, politician, amateur artist, and patron of the arts. John Fleming Leicester Northcote

Early life

Born at

Tabley House Tabley House is an English country house in Tabley Inferior (Nether Tabley), some to the west of the town of Knutsford, Cheshire. The house is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. I ...

in Cheshire, 4 April 1762, he was the eldest son of Sir Peter Leicester, 4th Baronet, by his wife Catherine, coheiress of Sir William Fleming of Rydal,

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

. His father was a patron of Wilson, Barret, and other artists, and built the house at Tabley. The son was taught to draw by Robert Marris, Thomas Vivares, and

Paul Sandby Paul Sandby (1731 – 7 November 1809) was an English map-maker turned landscape painter in watercolours, who, along with his older brother Thomas, became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768. Life and work Sandby was ...

. On the death of his father in 1770, Leicester succeeded to the baronetcy and estates, while still a small boy. He was educated at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, where he proceeded M. A. in 1784, and then travelled on the continent. In Italy about 1786 he met Sir Richard Colt Hoare and they spent time together France and Italy.

Politician

Leicester was elected Member of Parliament for

Yarmouth, Isle of Wight Yarmouth is a town, port and civil parish in the west of the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. The town is named for its location at the mouth of the small Western Yar river. The town grew near the river crossing, originally a ferry ...

, in 1791, for

Heytesbury Heytesbury is a village (formerly considered to be a town) and a civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village lies on the north bank of the Wylye, about southeast of the town of Warminster. The civil parish includes most of the small neig ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, in 1796, and for Stockbridge,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, in 1807. In parliament he supported the

Prince Regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness ...

and soon became one of the Prince's personal friends. Leicester acted also as lieutenant-colonel of the Cheshire militia, and after thirteen years' service was appointed colonel of a regiment of cavalry raised for home defence. During the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

he raised the regiment eventually called the

Cheshire Yeomanry The Cheshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment that can trace its history back to 1797 when Sir John Leicester of Tabley raised a county regiment of light cavalry in response to the growing fears of invasion from Napoleonic France. Its lineag ...

. In 1817, it took part in dispersing the

Blanketeers The Blanketeers or Blanket March was a demonstration organised in Manchester in March 1817. The intention was for the participants, who were mainly Lancashire weavers, to march to London and petition the Prince Regent over the desperate state ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

Artistic and intellectual interests

Leicester promoted an English school of painting and sculpture. He collected examples of English and Scottish art in a gallery in his London house in Hill Street,

Berkeley Square Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Ke ...

, and from April 1818 onwards the general public could visit his collection. With Colt Hoare and Walter Ramsden Fawkes, the patron of Turner, Leicester contributed to the expansion of patronage to artists in England. Part of his collection of pictures of the English school, of which a catalogue by

William Paulet Carey William Paulet Carey (1759 – 21 May 1839) was an Irish art critic and publicist, known also as an engraver and dealer. In 1792 he joined the Society of United Irishmen in Dublin, but feeling unsupported as he himself faced charges of sedition, ...

was published in 1819, was sold by auction soon after his death and realised £7,466, then a gigantic sum. In 1805-1806 Leicester assisted Sir Thomas Bernard in the foundation of the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom. The ''Annals of the Fine Arts'' for 1819 was dedicated to him. He was an honorary member of the Royal Irish Institution and the Royal Cork Society of Arts. Leicester was also interested in music and natural history, and late in life discussed with his friend

William Jerdan William Jerdan FSA (16 April 1782 – 11 July 1869), Scottish journalist, was born at Kelso, Scotland. During the years between 1799 and 1806, he spent short periods in a country lawyer's office, a London West India merchant's counting hou ...

an elaborate ''British Ichthyology''. He sketched, mainly landscapes, and also painted in oils and made a set of lithographic prints from his own drawings of landscapes and natural history subjects.

Title and death

Leicester was created Baron de Tabley on 16 July 1826. He died at Tabley House on 18 June 1827.

Family

Leicester married, on 9 November 1810, she aged 16, Georgiana Maria, youngest daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Josiah Cottin, and a noted beauty. Their son, George Warren, 2nd Baron de Tabley succeeded to the title.

Notes

*''La Belle Assemblee, or Court and Fashionable Magazine'', London, August 1828, no. 44, vol. 8, ''Illustrative Memoir of the Right Honourable Georgiana, Lady De Tabley'', pages 47–49; *''The Portrait Gallery of distinguished females'', by John Burke, two volumes, London, 1833. ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:de Tabley, John Leicester, 1st Baron 1762 births 1827 deaths British art collectors Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom People from Knutsford Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 Cheshire Yeomanry officers People from the Borough of Cheshire East Peers of the United Kingdom created by George IV