3rd Earl of Egremont (1763-1837)
Born 1751 Died 1837
The 2nd earl's son and successor, George O'Brien Wyndham was more famous as a patron of art and an agriculturist than as a politician, although he was not entirely indifferent to politics. For some time the painter Turner lived at his Sussex residence, Petworth House, and in addition to Turner, the painter Leslie, the sculptor Flaxman and other talented artists received commissions from Egremont, who filled his house with valuable works of art. Generous and hospitable, blunt and eccentric, the earl was in his day a very prominent figure in English society. Charles Greville says, "he was immensely rich and his munificence was equal to his wealth"; and again that "in his time Petworth was like a great inn".
The earl died unmarried on the 11th of November 1837, and on the death of his nephew and successor, George Francis Wyndham, the 4th Earl (1785-1845), the earldom of Egremont became extinct. Petworth, however, and the large estates had already passed to George Wyndham (1787-1869), a natural son of the 3rd Earl, who was created Baron Leconfield in 1859.
Extracted from the entry for EGREMONT, EARLS OF in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, the text of which lies within the public domain.