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George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont
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George O'Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont (18 December 1751–11 November 1837) was a British peer.
A direct descendant of Sir John Wyndham, he succeeded to his father's titles in 1763 at the age of 12, inheriting estates at Petworth, Egremont, Leconfield and land in Wiltshire and Somerset. He later inherited land in Ireland. He was a great patron of art and interested in the latest scientific advances. He was an agriculturist, a friend of Arthur Young, and enthusiastic for canal building, investing in many commercial ventures for the improvement of his estates. He was also not entirely indifferent to politics. For some time the painter Turner, lived at his Sussex residence, Petworth House, and many painters including John Constable, C R Leslie, George Romney, the sculptor John Flaxman, and other talented artists received commissions from Egremont, who filled his house with valuable works of art. The earl was a sponsor of the Petworth Emigration Scheme intended to relieve rural poverty caused by overpopulation. 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.
On 16 July 1801, he married Elizabeth Ilive. He had already had seven illegitimate children by her. Their eighth child Elizabeth died in infancy. He also had four or five children with Elizabeth Fox and maintained a number of other mistresses and their children, all living at Petworth House[1].
Children by Elizabeth Ilive;
- George Wyndham, 1st Baron Leconfield (5 June 1787–18 March 1869)
- Frances Wyndham (1789–1848)
- General Sir Henry Wyndham (12 May 1790–3 August 1860)
- Edward Wyndham (1792–1792)
- William Wyndham (1793–1794)
- Charlotte Wyndham (1795–1870)
- Charles Wyndham (1796–18 February 1866)
- The Lady Elizabeth Wyndham (b. & d. 1803)
Children by Elizabeth Fox;
The earl died at his home of Petworth House on 11 November 1837. He was succeeded by his nephew George Francis Wyndham, 4th Earl of Egremont on whose death the Earldom of Egremont became extinct. Petworth, however, and the large estates had already passed to Colonel George Wyndham, the eldest natural son of the third Earl. In 1859 he was created Baron Leconfield.
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