Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Viscount FitzWilliam
Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Viscount FitzWilliam (1 August 1745 – 4 February 1816) was an Irish Viscount in the FitzWilliam family who was a benefactor and musical antiquarian. He founded the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England, with a bequest of his library and art collection on his death in 1816. He was also a significant developer of his time in Dublin, Ireland.
Biography
Richard FitzWilliam was baptised on 22 August 1745. He was the eldest son of Richard FitzWilliam, 6th Viscount FitzWilliam, and his wife Catherine Decker, daughter of Sir Matthew Decker, 1st Baronet, a wealthy Dutch-born merchant. He was educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, receiving an MA in 1764.[1] He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1789 and elected the second Member of Parliament for Wilton in Wiltshire from 1790 to 1806 when it still had two representatives. He succeeded to his father's title in 1776.
He developed part of southeast Dublin in the Georgian style. This included:
- An Act to enclose the centre of Merrion Square in 1791;
- The design of Fitzwilliam Square from 1789, laid out in 1792;
- A new Roman Catholic church at Booterstown in 1812 called the Church of the Assumption;
- An Act to enclose the centre of Fitzwilliam Square in 1813.
Richard FitzWilliam mainly lived in Richmond near London, where his mother had inherited the estates of her father Sir Matthew Decker, but he made frequent visits to Mount Merrion House, south of Dublin. He left his large Irish estates to his first cousin's son, the 11th Earl of Pembroke, and his art collection and library to the University of Cambridge, together with funds to house them; this formed the Fitzwilliam Museum.[2]
See also
References
- ↑ "Fitzwilliam, the Hon. Richard (FTSN761R)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ↑ "Publishing Music from the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge", Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 130.1 (2005) 38-73
Sources
Blacker, Beaver Henry (1887). "Fitzwilliam, Richard". In Stephen, Leslie. Dictionary of National Biography. 9. London: Smith, Elder & Co. - Blacker, B. H. "Fitzwilliam, Richard, seventh Viscount Fitzwilliam of Merrion (1745–1816)]". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/9660. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Richard FitzWilliam
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by William Gerard Hamilton Lord Herbert |
Member of Parliament for Wilton 1790–1800 With: Lord Herbert to 1794 Philip Goldsworthy from 1794 |
Succeeded by Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by Parliament of Great Britain |
Member of Parliament for Wilton 1801 – Feb 1806 With: Philip Goldsworthy to 1801 John Spencer 1801–1804 Ralph Sheldon from 1804 |
Succeeded by Charles Herbert Ralph Sheldon |
| Peerage of Ireland | ||
| Preceded by Richard Fitzwilliam |
Viscount FitzWilliam 1776–1816 |
Succeeded by John FitzWilliam |