Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Baron Scarsdale (1726 – 5 December 1804) of

Kedleston Hall Kedleston Hall is a neo-classical manor house owned by the National Trust, and seat of the :Curzon family, Curzon family, located near Kedleston in Derbyshire, England, approximately 4 miles (6 km) north-west of Derby. The medieval village ...

, Derbyshire was an English

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

politician and peer.

Early life

Curzon was the son of

Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 4th Baronet Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 4th Baronet (1676–1758), of Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire, was an English Tories (British political party), Tory politician who represented three constituencies in the 18th century. Curzon was the son of Sir Nathaniel Curzo ...

of Kedleston, and his wife Mary Assheton. His younger brother, Assheton Curzon, was made 1st Baron Curzon in 1794 and later 1st

Viscount Curzon Earl Howe is a title that has been created twice in British history, for members of the Howe and Curzon-Howe family respectively. The first creation, in the Peerage of Great Britain, was in 1788 for Richard Howe, 4th Viscount Howe, but it ...

in 1802. His father served as a Member of Parliament for

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Ribble Valley, Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for to ...

, and

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, which he held until 1754. His paternal grandparents were Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 2nd Baronet of Kedleston, and his wife Sarah Penn (daughter of William Penn of Penn,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

). When his elder unmarried uncle,

Sir John Curzon, 3rd Baronet Sir John Curzon, 3rd Baronet (1674 – 6 August 1727), of Kedleston, Derbyshire, was an English Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons for 26 years, between 1701 and 1727. Curzon was the son of Sir Nathaniel Curzon, ...

died in 1727, his father inherited the baronetcy and

. His maternal grandfather was Sir Ralph Assheton, 2nd Baronet, MP for

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. His aunt, Catherine Assheton, married Thomas Lister, MP for

Career

Curzon was elected in 1747 as Member of Parliament for

, holding the seat until 1754, when he took over his father's seat for

. In 1758 he succeeded his father to the baronetcy and Kedleston Hall and in 1761 was created Lord Scarsdale. He later served as Chairman of Committees in the House of Lords. Curzon had started work on the development of

before he inherited, having employed the landscape gardener

William Emes William Emes (1729 or 1730–13 March 1803) was an English landscape gardener. Biography Details of his early life are not known but in 1756 he was appointed head gardener to Sir Nathaniel Curzon at Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire. He left this post ...

to replace the formal water features with natural lakes. In 1759 he commissioned the rebuilding of the house, designed in the Palladian style by the architects James Paine and

Matthew Brettingham Matthew Brettingham (1699 – 19 August 1769), sometimes called Matthew Brettingham the Elder, was an English architect who supervised the construction of Holkham Hall, and became one of the best-known architects of his generation, despi ...

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (architect), William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and train ...

was designing some garden temples to enhance the landscape of the park at the time and Curzon was so impressed with Adam's designs that Adam was quickly put in charge of the construction of the new mansion.

Kedleston Hall

Curzon intended Kedleston Hall, located 4 miles north-west of

, to outshine the house of his Whig neighbour the Cavendishes at Chatsworth. He employed several architects and in December 1758 he met

, who he would employ in his reconstruction of Kedleston. Curzon's cabinet-maker of choice was

John Linnell John Sidney Linnell ( ; born June 12, 1959) is an American musician and multi-instrumentalist, and is one half of the Brooklyn-based alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, with John Flansburgh, which was formed in 1982. In addition to sing ...

. Linnell created the arguably the most magnificent sofas of the Georgian era for the Drawing Room at Kedleston. These sofas have sea nymphs, mermen and mermaids whose tails entwine as their armrests. The Hall is now open to the public, as one of the properties owned by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

. One wing of Kedleston is still occupied by the Curzon family.

Personal life

In 1751, Curzon married Lady Carolina Colyear (–1812), the eldest daughter of Charles, Earl of Portmore and Juliana Osborne, Duchess of Leeds (widow of Peregrine Osborne, 3rd Duke of Leeds). Together, they were the parents of five sons and two daughters, including: *

Nathaniel Curzon, 2nd Baron Scarsdale Nathaniel Curzon, 2nd Baron Scarsdale (27 September 1752 – 27 January 1837) was an English Tory politician and peer. Early life Curzon was the son of Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Baron Scarsdale of Kedleston Hall, and his wife Lady Caroline Colyear ...

(1752–1837), who married Hon. Sophia-Susanna Noel, daughter of

Edward Noel, 1st Viscount Wentworth Edward Noel, 1st Viscount Wentworth (30 August 1715 – 31 October 1774) was a British peer. Early life Edward Noel was born on 30 August 1715. Wentworth was the eldest son (of six sons and a daughter) of Sir Clobery Noel, 5th Baronet, of Kirkby ...

, in 1777. After her death in 1782, he married Felicite Anne Josephe de Wattines in 1798. * Hon. Charles William Curzon, an Army officer (1758–1804) * Hon. John Curzon, a Naval officer (1759–1794) * Hon. David Francis Curzon (1761–1832), a Reverend. * Hon. Henry Curzon (1765–1846), an Admiral in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

who held commands during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

and the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

; he died unmarried. * Hon. Caroline Curzon (d. 1841), who died unmarried. * Hon. Juliana Curzon (d. 1835), who died unmarried. Lord Scarsdale died in 1804. He was succeeded by his eldest son,

Nathaniel Nathaniel is an English variant of the biblical Hebrew name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. ...

, who became the 2nd Lord Scarsdale.Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.''

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, U.S.A.:

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

(Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 3, page 3539.

References

External links

National trust - Kedleston Hall
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scarsdale, Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Baron 1726 births Barons in the Peerage of Great Britain Peers of Great Britain created by George III Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761

Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Derbyshire 1804 deaths