William Aikman (1682-1731) - Edmund Prideaux (1693–1745) (detail) - 355554 - National Trust

Edmund Prideaux (1693–1745) was an English painter and architect in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

best known for his involvement in the architectural remodelling of Prideaux Place, an

English country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

located in Padstow.

Origins

He was christened on 22 February 1693 at Soham Tony, Norfolk and was the only surviving son of Very Rev.

Humphrey Prideaux Humphrey Prideaux (3 May 1648 – 1 November 1724) was a Cornish churchman and orientalist, Dean of Norwich from 1702. His sympathies inclined to Low Churchism in religion and to Whiggism in politics. Life The third son of Edmond Prideaux, he was ...

(1648–1724),

Dean of Norwich The Dean of Norwich is the head of the Chapter of Norwich Cathedral in Norwich, England. The role is vacant since Jane Hedges' retirement on 1 May 2022. List of deans Early modern *1538–1539 William Castleton (last prior) *1539–1554 J ...

from 1702, (3rd son of Edmund Prideaux (d.1683) of Prideaux Place, Sheriff of Cornwall in 1664, by his wife Bridget Moyle) by his wife Bridget Bokenham (d.1700), daughter of Anthony Bokenham of Helmingham, Suffolk.

Youth

His mother died when he was aged 7 after which he developed a strong bond with his father, as is apparent from Edmund's writings.

Career

HeantonSatchvilleHallLeftWing1716ByEdmundPrideaux

He was admitted a fellow commoner at

Clare Hall, Cambridge Clare Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. Founded in 1966 by Clare College, Clare Hall is a college for advanced study, admitting only postgraduate students alongside postdoctoral researchers and fellows. It ...

on 22 May 1711 and became a lawyer, having entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

on 10 February 1711/2 and having been

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1718. From about the age of 21 he visited several country houses belonging to the Prideaux family and friends, and made many "topographical drawings", many of which survive as valuable records of houses since demolished or altered, for example

Stowe, Kilkhampton Stowe House in the parish of Kilkhampton in Cornwall, England, UK, was a mansion built in 1679 by John Grenville, 1st Earl of Bath (1628–1701) and demolished in 1739. The Grenville family were for many centuries lords of the manor of Kilkh ...

in Cornwall and

Heanton Satchville, Petrockstowe Heanton Satchville was a historic manor in the parish of Petrockstowe, North Devon, England. With origins in the Domesday manor of Hantone, it was first recorded as belonging to the Yeo family in the mid-14th century and was then owned succe ...

in Devon. Following the death of his wife at a young age, he "immersed himself in the study of all scholarly matters, particularly architecture and garden design". Unusually late in life, in about 1739 at the age of 46, he made a

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

of Italy and brought back to England a collection of pictures and Roman antiquities. He was well-travelled, as is apparent from the contents of his surviving cash-book.

Inheritance

In 1728, at the age of 35 and 2 years after his wife's death, he inherited Prideaux Place from his first cousin Edmund Prideaux (d.1728), who died without progeny, the eldest son of John Prideaux by his wife Anne Mallock. He remodelled both the interior and exterior of the house and landscaped the grounds, adding garden buildings and a wilderness with serpentine paths.

Marriage and progeny

On 17 April 1717 he married Hannah Wrench (1697–1726), daughter of Sir Benjamin Wrench of the City of Norwich. She died 2 February 1726, aged 29 years. He had the following progeny: *Humphrey Prideaux (born 1719), of Prideaux Place, Sheriff of Cornwall in 1750.Burke's, 1936, p.265

Death and burial

He died and was buried on 23 June 1745 at Padstow. His will was dated January 1743, with a codicil dated 12 June 1745.

References

Citations Sources *Forward, Raymond, articles on Edmund Prideaux, ''The Acorn Archive

*BBC your paintings websit

*Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 15th Edition, ed. Pirie-Gordon, H., London, 1937, pp. 265–6, pedigree of Prideaux-Brune of Prideaux Place.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prideaux, Edmund 1693 births 1745 deaths 18th-century English painters English male painters People from Padstow Freemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of England 18th-century English male artists