Armorial stamps & bindings

A book of common prayer published 1791 (S.86.10)

The armorial stamp is that of Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (1756-1829).

On a chapeau turned up ermine a lion rampant supporting an arrow in pale point downwards. Coronet: Earl. His bookplate is illustrated here.

Unmarried Egerton kept dogs and cats in his Paris house which he dressed as ladies and gentlemen and would take them with him in his carriage. He kept partridges and pigeons with clipped wings in his garden, allowing him to shoot them despite failing eyesight. His English base was Ashridge House, Hertfordshire. He received an annuity of £18,000 pa from his brother's will, the 7th Earl Bridgwater. One of the trustees of which was 1st Earl Brownlow. The 7th Earl's childless sister-in-law, Charlotte widow of gained a lifetime interest in Ashridge until she died in 1849. The 7th Earl of Bridgwater's potential heirs, his sister, Lady Amelia Hume and her two daughters, Sophia and Amelia, Lady Farnborough pre-deceased him. Therefore, the next living relative was the 1st Earl's son by Sophia, Viscount Alford.

His 1823 will contained the condition that Alford acquire a Dukedom within five years of his succession. Failure to do this meant the forfeiture of the property to his younger brother, Charles Henry Hume Cust, who had to comply with the same condition or in turn forfeit his right to William Tatton Egerton, on whom no such burden was laid. The Earl's ambition was the restoration of the Dukedom to his family line. He thought that with an income of over £70,000 a year and an estate valued at £2,000,000, it should prove easy to achieve. With George IV on the throne, it is alleged that one could obtain the highest honours through favouritism, bribery or political subserviency.

Alford died within two years of inheriting without buying a dukedom. His son, John William Spencer Cust, laid claim to the reversion. This was challenged by his uncle, Charles, who claimed that the Dukedom conditions not being met, the fortune reverted to him under Egerton's Will. Uncle Charles won his case in the Lower Courts, but the decision was reversed in the House of Lords on appeal, when the clause was over-ruled on the grounds that it was contrary to public policy. The Law Lords stated that "No man can leave his property conditioned by his own personal views of public affairs, or by his posthumous ambition." Hence, the book is at Belton.

There was no obvious estrangement between Charles and his brother's family. His nephew, Adelbert Wellington Brownlow Cust, took over as MP from Charles in North Shropshire when he resigned. Charles attended the funeral of the 2nd Earl at Belton in 1867. The 3rd Earl attended Charles's funeral in 1875.

Birdsall and Son, of Northampton, was a major bookbinding firm from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. In 1792 William Birdsall (c. 1750-1826) bought the bookselling and bookbinding business of John Lacy and Son in Northampton. The price of the unbound book is given as 5s 6d (£36 2023). Francis Egerton would have paid Birdsall to bind it to his own liking.

Katie? This is Lady Katherine Anne Cust (1822-1885), the signature matches that on her wedding register. Born at Belton, the youngest daughter of John Cust, 1st Earl Brownlow and Caroline Fludyer. She married Arthur George Onslow, Viscount Cranley. She appeared at the Queen's Drawing Room in 1843 with her sister Caroline. Cranley predeceased his father the 3rd Earl of Onslow of Clandon Park. He died of a lingering illness of pulmonary character probably TB like his brother-in-law, Viscount Alford, at Lady Marian Alford's residence in Princes Gate London. Viscountess Cranford left £1 million in her will. She left a bequest to the Hospital for Consumption in Brompton, a tuberculosis hospital, now the Royal Brompton Hospital. Her three daughters died unmarried.