Assheton Curzon, 1st Viscount Curzon

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Assheton Curzon, 1st Viscount Curzon (2 February 1730 – 21 March 1820), styled Lord Curzon between 1794 and 1802, was a British Tory politician.[1]

The Viscount Curzon
Curzon in 1802
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
1794 – 21 March 1820
Preceded byPeerage created
Succeeded byThe 2nd Viscount Curzon
Member of Parliament
for Clitheroe
In office
1792–1794
Preceded byPenn Curzon
Succeeded byRichard Erle-Drax-Grosvenor
In office
1761–1780
Preceded byNathaniel Curzon
Succeeded byJohn Parker
Personal details
Born2 February 1730 (1730-02-02)
Died21 March 1820 (1820-03-22) (aged 90)
Political partyTory
Spouses
Esther Hanmer
(m. 1756; died 1764)
Dorothy Grosvenor
(m. 1766; died 1774)
Anna Margaretta Meredith
(m. 1777; died 1804)
Children6
Parent(s)Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 4th Baronet
Mary Assheton

Background and education

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Curzon was the second son of Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 4th Baronet, of Kedleston, Derbyshire, and Mary, daughter of Sir Ralph Assheton, 2nd Baronet. Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Baron Scarsdale, was his elder brother (see Viscount Scarsdale for earlier history of the family). He was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford.

Political career

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Curzon sat as Member of Parliament for Clitheroe from 1754 to 1777 and from 1792 to 1794. In the latter year he was raised to the peerage as Baron Curzon, of Penn in the County of Buckingham, and in 1802 he was further honoured when he was made Viscount Curzon, of Penn in the County of Buckingham.

Homes

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In 1752 Curzon acquired Hagley Hall, Rugeley, in Staffordshire, remodelling the house and redesigning the grounds. In 1760 he built Penn House near Amersham in Buckinghamshire, replacing an earlier Tudor building with a red brick country mansion.

He is buried in the church at Penn, Buckinghamshire, with a monument sculpted by Francis Chantrey.[2]

Family

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Lord Curzon married firstly Esther Hanmer, daughter of William Hanmer and Elizabeth Jennens (sister of Charles Jennens), in 1756. After her death in July 1764, he married secondly Dorothy Grosvenor, daughter of Sir Robert Grosvenor, 6th Baronet, in 1766. After her death on 24 February 1774, he married thirdly Anna Margaretta Meredith, daughter of Amos Meredith and sister of Sir William Meredith, 3rd Baronet, in 1777. She died in June 1804. There were two sons and four daughters from the two first marriages.[3]

Lord Curzon died in March 1820, aged 90. His son from his first marriage, the Hon. Penn Assheton Curzon, had predeceased him, and he was therefore succeeded by the latter's third but eldest surviving son by his marriage to Sophia Howe, suo jure Baroness Howe (the eldest daughter of Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, and wife Mary Hartop), Richard, who was created Earl Howe in 1821.

His son by his second wife, the Hon. Robert Curzon, represented Clitheroe in Parliament for many years and was the father of Robert Curzon, 14th Baron Zouche. Robert inherited Hagley Hall and various other unentailed properties.

His daughter, the Hon. Charlotte Curzon, married Dugdale Stratford Dugdale of the historic Stratford family, with their descendants becoming the Dugdale baronets in 1936.

Notes

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  1. ^ "CURZON, Assheton (1730-1820), of Penn House, nr. Amersham, Bucks. and Hagley, Staffs". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  2. ^ Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis
  3. ^ The Peerage entry for Dugdale Stratford Dugdale

References

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Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Clitheroe
1754–1780
With: Thomas Lister 1754–1761
Nathaniel Lister 1761–1773
Thomas Lister 1773–1780
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Clitheroe
1792–1794
With: Sir John Aubrey, Bt
Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Viscount Curzon
1802–1820
Succeeded by
Peerage of Great Britain
New creation Baron Curzon
1794–1820
Succeeded by