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BRIDGWATER

who was b. 20 Nov. 1763, d. at Ashridge Park, 1 1, and was bur. 22 Feb. 1849, ^gcd 85. Will dat. 24 Dec. 1846, pr. 17 May 1849. IX. 1823 8. Francis Henry (Egerton), Earl of Bridg- to WATER [16 1 7], Viscount Brackley [16 16] and Baron 1829. Ellesmere [1603], only surv. br. and h., b. 1 1 Nov., and bap. 14 Dec. 1756, at St. Geo., Han. Sq.; ed. at Eton; matric. at Oxford (Ch. Ch.) 27 Mar. 1773, aged 16; B.A. 1776; Fellow of All Souls and M. A. 1780; Preb. of Durham 1780; Rector of Middle, Salop, 1 78 1, and of Whitchurch, in that co., 1797; F.R.S. 8 Nov. 1781; F.S.A. 31 Mar. 1 79 1. He, who was well known for his eccentricity,(^) d. unm., at his residence. Hotel de Noailles, Rue St. Honore, Paris, 1 1 Feb., and was bur. 4 Mar. 1829, at Little Gaddesden, aged 72. At his death all his Peerage dignities became extinct. Will dat. 25 Feb. 1825, pr. Apr. 1829. BRIDPORT, BRIDPORT OF CRICKET ST. THOMAS, AND BRIDPORT OF CRICKET ST. THOMAS AND OF BRONTE BARONY [I.] I. Alexander Hood, yr. br. of Samuel, Viscount I. 1794. Hood (the celebrated Admiral), being 2nd and yst s. of the Rev. Samuel H., Vicar of Butleigh, Somerset, by Mary, BARONY. '^^- °^ Richard Hoskins, of Beaminster, Dorset, was b. J ^ 2 Dec. 1 726, and, entering the Royal Navy, became Lieut. y 1746; Commander and Post Capt. 1756; Treasurer of „ Greenwich Hospital, 1766-99; Rear Adm. 1780; Vice ^' Adm. 1787; Rear Adm. of Great Britain, 1790-96; Adm. Alford came into possession of the estates in 1849 ^^ ^'f'^ tenant, and d. 3 Jan. 1851, not having acquired either of the titles indicated. The question of the succession of his s. and h. to these vast estates (valued at ^^70,000 a year) in these circumstances was decided against him 20 Aug. 1851 by the Vice Chancellor, Lord Cranworth, in the case of " Egerton v. Brownlow," subject to the possibility of his becoming so entitled, if Earl Brownlow (who still survived) should be cr. Marquis or Duke in the manner abovenamed. This opinion was shared by most of the Common Law Judges, viz. Justices Crompton, Creswell, Talfourd, Coleridge, Wightman, and Erie, by Barons Aldersonand Parke, and (save as to the possibility of the revival of the appellant's title) by Justice Williams. On the other hand, Ch. Baron Pollock and Baron Piatt held that the conditions were void and that the appellant took an indefeasible estate in tail male. This decree of the Vice Chancellor was (somewhat unexpectedly) reversed by the House of Lords, 19 Aug. 1853, a vast majority of the Law Lords, vix. Lords Lyndhurst, Brougham, Truro, and St. Leonards, being for the appellant, while Lord Cranworth (then Lord Chancellor) alone supported (his own) the opposite view. The appellant consequently (who the next month sue. his grandfather as Earl Brownlow) became entitled to the Bridgwater estates. See account of these trials in Annual Reg., 1851, pp. 388-392, and 1853, pp. 296-308. {^) His house, according to a record kept by the police in Paris, was full of cats and dogs, who were dressed as ladies and gendemen, and taken out in his carriage and fed at his table. He was however a good scholar and a great lover and patron of litera-