Peter Du Cane (22 April 1713 – 28 March 1803), a descendant of Jean Du Quesne, the elder and son of

Richard Du Cane Richard Du Cane (13 October 1681 – 3 October 1744) was a British businessman and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1715 to 1722. Du Cane was the son of Peter Du Cane, the elder and his wife Jane Booth, daughter of Richard Booth, ...

, M.P., was a leading 18th century British merchant and businessman . Du Cane amassed great wealth in land and fund holdings, as well as in marine insurance. He was High Sheriff of Essex in 1744-5, a Director of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

, a Director of the East India Company from 1750 to 1753, Vice-President of the

London Infirmary The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and London Borough of Tow ...

, and patron of the vicarage at Coggeshall where he was lord of the manor. In 1745, he established the family at Braxted Park in Essex. In 1735, Du Cane married a wealthy heiress, Mary Norris, the only daughter of Henry Norris (1677–1762) of Hackney, another London businessman and

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

with extensive trading interests in Russia. Du Cane's portrait, painted while travelling in Italy by Austrian artist

Anton von maron Anton may refer to: People *Anton (given name), including a list of people with the given name *Anton (surname) Places *Anton Municipality, Bulgaria **Anton, Sofia Province, a village *Antón District, Panama **Antón, a town and capital of th ...

(1733–1808) hangs in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. In another painting by

Arthur Devis (1712–1787) Arthur Devis (19 February 1712 – 25 July 1787) was an English artist, half-brother of the painter Anthony Devis (1729–1816), and father of painters Thomas Anthony Devis (1757–1810) and Arthur William Devis (1762–1822). His place in t ...

known as the 'Du Cane Triptych' (1747), the Du Cane family are depicted in the grounds of their house at Braxted Park. The house itself appears in the middle distance of the central panel depicting the three Du Cane children.

References

1713 births 1803 deaths Directors of the British East India Company High Sheriffs of Essex 18th-century English people English businesspeople {{UK-business-bio-stub