Thomas Fane, 8th Earl of Westmorland (March 1701 – 25 November 1771) was an English politician and peer. He was an ancestor of the writer

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

Biography

Thomas Fane was the second son of Henry Fane of

Brympton d'Evercy Brympton d'Evercy (alternatively Brympton House) is a Listed building, Grade I listed manor house near Yeovil in the county of Somerset, England. The house has been called the most beautiful of its kind in England; in 1927, Christopher Hussey ( ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

and Anne Scrope, sister and coheir of John Scrope. Anne and John were the grandchildren of Colonel Adrian Scrope, a regicide of Charles I. Thomas Fane inherited John Scrope's fortune and mansion in Bristol, and Colonel Adrian Scrope's property in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, which included Wormsley Park. In 1757 he succeeded his unmarried elder brother

Francis Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...

to their father's Brympton estate and in 1762 inherited the title of Earl of Westmoreland from John Fane, 7th Earl of Westmorland, his father's childless second-cousin. This brought him the Earls of Westmorland seat at Apethorpe Hall in Northamptonshire. In 1727 Thomas Fane married Elizabeth Swymmer, the daughter of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

sugar merchant William Swymmer. The couple had two sons and two daughters, including: * John Fane, 9th Earl of Westmorland (1728–1774) * Henry Fane (1739–1802) *Mary, who married Charles Blair, of Whatcomb, Dorset. Charles Blair was the great-great-grandfather of Eric Arthur Blair, who wrote under the pen name

''Mr Fane''

In 1761

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter who specialised in portraits. The art critic John Russell (art critic), John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century, while Lucy P ...

painted his full-length portrait entitled ''Mr Fane.'' Reynolds was paid 80

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

for the work, which depicted the powder-wigged subject walking through a wooded landscape wearing rose-coloured velvet attire. In May 1903 the portrait was sold to Martin Colnaghi for 2,100 guineas.''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' ''Sale of the Vaile And Other Pictures'' 25 May 1903

Notes

References

* ;Attribution * 1701 births 1771 deaths 18th-century English nobility Fane, Thomas Thomas British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 Earls of Westmorland Barons Burghersh {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub