Aubrey Beauclerk, 5th Duke of St Albans
Aubrey Beauclerk, 5th Duke of St Albans (3 June 1740 – 9 February 1802) was a British landowner, and a collector of antiquities and works of art.[1]
Biography
Aubrey Beauclerk was born in 1740, the son of Admiral Vere Beauclerk, 1st Baron Vere and a grandson of Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans.
On 4 May 1763 Beauclerk married Lady Catherine Ponsonby (14 October 1742 – 4 September 1789), daughter of William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough. They had seven children:
- Aubrey Beauclerk, 6th Duke of St Albans (21 August 1765 – 12 August 1815)
- William Beauclerk, 8th Duke of St Albans (18 December 1766 – 17 July 1825)
- Lady Catherine Elizabeth Beauclerk (c. 1768 – July 1803), married on 1 September 1802 to Rev. James Burgess (d. 27 November 1827).
- Admiral Lord Amelius Beauclerk (23 May 1771 – 10 December 1846), died unmarried.
- The Reverend Lord Frederick Beauclerk (8 May 1773 – 22 April 1850), married the Hon. Charlotte Dillon (daughter of Charles Dillon, 12th Viscount Dillon) and had issue.
- Lady Caroline Beauclerk (c. 1775 – 23 November 1838), married the Hon. Charles Dundas (son of Thomas Dundas, 1st Baron Dundas) and had issue.
- Lady Georgiana Beauclerk (1776 – 17 October 1791), died unmarried at age 15.
From 1761 to 1768 he served as Member of Parliament for Thetford; from 1768 to 1774 he was Member for Aldborough.
In 1778 Beauclerk and his wife went to Rome, following rumors in the press concerning Catherine Beauclerk's relationship with Thomas Brand (junior). Brand accompanied the Beauclerks to Rome, abandoning his own wife and children.
In 1779 Beauclerk financed an excavation with Thomas Jenkins at Centocelle, which produced several ancient sculptures. To celebrate this successful excavation Beauclerk commissioned Franciszek Smuglewicz to paint a portrait of him and his family at the site (the painting is now at Cheltenham Art Gallery). Some of the sculptures were sold to Giovanni Battista Visconti for the Museo Pio-Clementino at the Vatican in Rome, and others to the British collector, Henry Blundell; many were displayed at Beauclerk's house at Hanworth by 1783. While in Italy Beauclerk also bought several paintings.
On the death of his father in 1781 Beauclerk became the 2nd Baron Vere, and in 1787, on the death of his cousin, he became the 5th Duke of St Albans.
Beauclerk disposed of his collection of antiquities at sales in 1798 and 1801 - which did not deter him from being a major purchaser in 1801 at sales of his father-in-law's collections.
He died in 1802, and is buried in St George's Church, Hanworth.[2]
References
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Thetford 1761–1768 With: Henry Seymour Conway |
Succeeded by Henry Seymour Conway John Drummond |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Aldborough 1768–1774 With: Andrew Wilkinson 1768–1772 Earl of Lincoln 1772–1774 |
Succeeded by Charles Wilkinson Abel Smith |
| Peerage of England | ||
| Preceded by | Duke of St Albans 1787–1802 |
Succeeded by Aubrey Beauclerk |
| Peerage of Great Britain | ||
| Preceded by | Baron Vere 1781–1802 |
Succeeded by Aubrey Beauclerk |
