Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Baron Scarsdale

Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Baron Scarsdale (1726 – 5 December 1804) of Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire was an English Tory politician and peer.

Curzon was the son of Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 4th Baronet of Kedleston, and his wife Mary Assheton, daughter of Sir Ralph Assheton, Bt of Middleton Lancashire.[1]

Curzon was elected in 1747 as Member of Parliament for Clitheroe, holding the seat until 1754, when he took over his father's seat for Derbyshire. In 1758 he succeeded his father to the baronetcy and Kedleston Hall and in 1761 was created Lord Scarsdale. He later served as Chairman of Committees in the House of Lords.

Kedleston Hall

Curzon had started work on the development of Kedleston Hall before he inherited, having employed the landscape gardener William Emes to replace the formal water features with natural lakes. In 1759 he commissioned the rebuilding of the house, designed in the Palladian style by the architects James Paine and Matthew Brettingham. Robert Adam was designing some garden temples to enhance the landscape of the park at the time and Curzon was so impressed with Adam's designs that Adam was quickly put in charge of the construction of the new mansion.

Curzon died in 1804. He had married, in 1751, Lady Carolina Colyear, daughter of Charles, Earl of Portmore, with whom he had 5 sons and 2 daughters. His eldest son, also Nathaniel, succeeded to the title and became the 2nd Lord Scarsdale.

Kedleston Hall

The Hall is located 4 miles north-west of Derby, and is now open to the public, as one of the properties owned by the National Trust. One wing of Kedleston is still occupied by the Curzon family.

Curzon intended Kedleston Hall to outshine the house of his Whig neighbour the Cavendishes at Chatsworth. He employed several architects and in December 1758 he met Robert Adam, who he would employ in his reconstruction of Kedleston. Curzon's cabinet-maker of choice was John Linnell. Linnell created the arguably the most magnificent sofas of the Georgian era for the Drawing Room at Kedleston. These sofas have sea nymphs, mermen and mermaids whose tails entwine as their armrests.[2]

References

1. Arthur Collins Peerage of England. Printed for F. C. and J. Rivington, 1812
2. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-kedlestonhall/w-kedleston-collection.htm

External links

• National trust - Kedleston Hall