The Egerton Family. 1 1 1 



Duke of Bridgewater became extinct. The earldom, 

 however, was preserved by transfer of the title to John- 

 William, cousin of the deceased Duke, who became 

 thereby seventh Earl of Bridgewater, and in the pedigree 

 is marked J. Dying without children, the title passed 

 to his brother Francis-Henry; and with the death of 

 the last named, who was also childless, the earldom, 

 now in its eighth generation, expired likewise, and the 

 house of Bridgewater ended. This amiable and eccen- 

 tric patrician it was who in his will bequeathed ^8000 

 for the production and publication of the esteemed 

 volumes called the Bridgewater Treatises. 



Francis, the third or " great " Duke of Bridgewater, 

 amassed, as is well known, prodigious wealth. He de- 

 vised most of his houses and pictures to his nephew, 

 George Granville, Duke of Sutherland, with reversion to 

 Francis, the Duke of Sutherland's second son. The 

 latter, entering on the possession of the property in 1833, 

 assumed the surname and arms of Egerton, and in 1846 

 was raised to the peerage as Earl of Ellesmere. The 

 accomplishments of this eminent nobleman need no 

 further remark here, especially as they will be adverted 

 to when we come to speak of Worsley. Suffice it to say, 

 that the name of Egerton received from them its crown- 

 ing distinction. Departing this life in 1857, he was suc- 

 ceeded in the earldom by his son, George Granville 

 Francis, whose premature death, in September 1862, is 

 fresh in the recollection of South Lancashire. 



