sporting and Rural Records of the Cheveley Estate. 



83 



He was educated at Eton, under the care of Dr. Sparke, after- Cheveley. 

 wards Bishop of Ely, and at the usual age entered Trinity College, 

 Cambridge, then under Dr. Postlethwaite, where he took the 

 degree of M.A. in 1797. At the time of his decease he must 

 have been nearly the senior member of that college, with the 

 exception of Lord Lyndhurst, who graduated there about three 

 years before him. 



Immediately on coming of age he married the Lady Elizabeth 

 Howard, fifth daughter of Frederick Earl of Carlisle, with whom he 

 lived in uninterrupted happiness until her death in 1825. In 1801 

 was commenced the rebuilding of Belvoir Castle, in the room of the 

 old castle, which had been reconstructed shortly after the civil wars, 

 but was a plain, unpretending structure, and was planned more with 

 a view to security than architectural ornament. This task, which will 

 ever be an enduring monument to the Duke's memory, occupied 

 himself and his Duchess for several years. At the same time the 

 hills around Belvoir were adorned with plantations, and drives and 

 walks laid out through the domain. These, and the embellishment 

 of the surrounding villages, were in a great measure planned by 

 the Duchess of Rutland, whose views in everything which related 

 to improvement were grand and magnificent, and who brought to 

 the task not only an enlarged capacity but a refined taste, and 

 almost the skill of a professional artist, as is emphasised particu- 

 larly in the " Duchess' Drive," leading from Cheveley Hall to 

 Newmarket. 



For a considerable period of his life he was a prominent The Duke and 

 patron of the turf, and kept a racing stud at Cheveley, where 

 he entertained many ladies and gentlemen of mark and fashion, 

 among whom the famous Beau Brummel was a regular visitor. 

 At Newmarket the Palace was placed at his disposal after 

 Cheveley became dilapidated. 



The Duke was upwards of eight-and-twenty when his name 

 first appeared in the " Racing Calendar " with two horses called 

 Rambler and Ned, the former of which he purchased, we believe, 



M 2 



the Turf. 



