1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,440 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:17,239 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. Back when 4 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 1: we did our episode recently on Peter Roche, I mentioned 5 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:24,200 Speaker 1: that The Eighth Earl of Bridgewater was an episode I 6 00:00:24,239 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: would absolutely like to do, and here we are, and 7 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: I was right. I really enjoyed it. Uh. And this 8 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 1: one also, I did not realize at the time accidentally 9 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 1: dovetails in a nice way on the Great Stork Derby 10 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:44,080 Speaker 1: and Charles Millars Will, because it too features a will 11 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:48,919 Speaker 1: that could be described as uncommon and capricious in its provisions. However, 12 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 1: unlike millars Will, which led to people putting their lives 13 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: and their livelihoods in jeopardy, this one is just the 14 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:02,560 Speaker 1: silly stuff and no one has to compete um and 15 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 1: it it becomes an interesting story about a life of 16 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:09,120 Speaker 1: privilege but also a person who is allowed to just 17 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: let their eccentricities go unchecked and it's quite funny. It 18 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:17,919 Speaker 1: does have just the briefest mention of hunting for sports, 19 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:21,360 Speaker 1: so heads up there, but it also features some very 20 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:25,320 Speaker 1: spoiled animals, so get ready dog lovers because some of 21 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:28,919 Speaker 1: this might delight you. Yeah, they they are some incredibly 22 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 1: spoiled dogs. Francis Henry Edgerton was born November eleventh, seventeen 23 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:39,280 Speaker 1: fifty six in London. His father was the Right Reverend 24 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 1: John Edgerton, who was Bishop of Bangor in the year 25 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 1: that his son Francis was born. His mother was Lady 26 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:48,960 Speaker 1: Anne Sophia Gray, the daughter of the Duke of Kent, 27 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 1: Henry Gray, and baby Francis was baptized a little more 28 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: than a month after he was born on December fourteenth 29 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 1: at St George's Church, and as a boy, Francis attended 30 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:03,640 Speaker 1: eat College. Eaton had been founded in fourteen forty by 31 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: King Henry the sixth as a free education system intended 32 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 1: to offer poor boys in London an opportunity to receive 33 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 1: a quality education. It began as King's College of Our 34 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: Lady of Eaton, beside Windsor, and while the education was 35 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:21,840 Speaker 1: free for all for anyone who wanted to go, boys 36 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: who were sent to the school who were not from 37 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: poor families had to pay for boarding. All students were 38 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 1: and still are expected to live at the school full time. 39 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:33,959 Speaker 1: It has obviously had some policy changes over the year, 40 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 1: but Francis would have been one of the students who 41 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:39,520 Speaker 1: absolutely paid to be at Eaton. When it came time 42 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:44,799 Speaker 1: for secondary education, Francis Edgerton enrolled at christ Church, Oxford University. 43 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:48,920 Speaker 1: That was on March seventeen seventy three, so he was 44 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 1: attending university as the tensions between the colonies in North 45 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:58,320 Speaker 1: America and the British monarchy were really escalating. He graduated 46 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: in seventeen seventy six, having earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, 47 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,520 Speaker 1: and then went on to earn a Master of Arts 48 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:08,640 Speaker 1: degree in seventeen eighty and that was also at christ Church. Yeah, 49 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:11,720 Speaker 1: his life seems fairly untouched by what was going on 50 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:15,800 Speaker 1: in North America. Two other things happened in Edgerton's life. 51 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: In seventeen eighty one, he was elected as a fellow 52 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:22,679 Speaker 1: at All Souls College, and he also became a prebendary 53 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:25,679 Speaker 1: of Durham. Let's talk for him a second about the 54 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 1: prebendary situation and Francis Edgerton often being referred to as 55 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:33,840 Speaker 1: a clergyman. He was a clergyman with the Church of England. 56 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:38,760 Speaker 1: Technically he never gave a sermon. He was not particularly 57 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:40,920 Speaker 1: hands on in any of the churches that were listed 58 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:44,520 Speaker 1: under his care. Those include, in addition to that position 59 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:48,119 Speaker 1: at Durham, being named rector at Middle Shropshire in seventeen 60 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 1: eighty one, after which he had to resign that prebendary, 61 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: and in seventeen eighty seven becoming rector at Whitchurch, Shropshire. 62 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: These positions were really kind of largely honorary and they 63 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: with a stipend, but the actual job of doing the 64 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: work was performed by a proxy. So the title of 65 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:12,160 Speaker 1: reverend is applicable. But he was definitely not someone who 66 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:15,440 Speaker 1: had dedicated his life to the church. So you may 67 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:17,799 Speaker 1: be thinking, if that's the case, how did he land 68 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: those appointments, And that was good old fashioned nepotism. His 69 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:26,840 Speaker 1: father had appointed him a prebendary of Durham. His father's cousin, 70 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:31,120 Speaker 1: Francis Edgerton, third Duke of Bridgewater, had given him two rectories, 71 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 1: and that Bridgewater was incidentally the one who built Bridgewater. 72 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:37,840 Speaker 1: Can now we'll be talking more about that in just 73 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:41,840 Speaker 1: a moment. Yeah, So also just to level set, there 74 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 1: are at this point to Francis Edgerton's in the story. 75 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: One is the one that we're talking about primarily his 76 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,920 Speaker 1: father's cousin, also Francis Edgerton, is the third Duke of Bridgewater. 77 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 1: We will often refer to him just as the Duke, 78 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:58,320 Speaker 1: so you know that he is an older gentleman relative 79 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: in the family. Edgerton became a Fellow of the Royal 80 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:04,360 Speaker 1: Society a year after becoming a Fellow of All Souls, 81 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,760 Speaker 1: so that was seventeen eighty one. In seventeen ninety one 82 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:10,760 Speaker 1: he was named as a Fellow in the Society of Antiquaries. 83 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: He was in a position of being fortunate enough to 84 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:18,239 Speaker 1: be a lifelong academic without having to worry about income 85 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:22,920 Speaker 1: at this point, and he particularly enjoyed studying natural theology, 86 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:27,279 Speaker 1: that was the effort to establish religious truth through rational argument. 87 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:31,240 Speaker 1: Francis was also a Freemason, and thanks to his family 88 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:34,600 Speaker 1: money and ability to promote the organization and society, he 89 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: was a highly placed member and a letter dated February six, 90 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty six, Major Charles Sheriff, who at that time 91 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:46,839 Speaker 1: was working to re establish Freemasonry and Shropshire, wrote a 92 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:50,839 Speaker 1: letter to the Grand Secretary of the organization which read, quote, 93 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:55,320 Speaker 1: my senior Warden, the Reverend Mr Edgerton, son of the 94 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:58,599 Speaker 1: Bishop of Durham's and our rector here left us on 95 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 1: the third and for the conversation that passed between us 96 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:06,119 Speaker 1: respecting the fraternity, although he knows but very little of it. Yet, 97 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:08,640 Speaker 1: as he will be advised by me and appoint me 98 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:12,560 Speaker 1: his deputy grand Master, I have advised him, as he 99 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 1: is known to Lord Effingham, to get appointed for the county, 100 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:20,279 Speaker 1: he being a man of family and fortune. It will 101 00:06:20,279 --> 00:06:23,000 Speaker 1: be the means of promoting the craft in this county, 102 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:27,040 Speaker 1: And wherein that is concerned, I always yield, and especially 103 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:29,679 Speaker 1: so when the person who tills the chair is ready 104 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:33,159 Speaker 1: to receive advice. In this case it is of little 105 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:36,440 Speaker 1: moment who is in it. Further, on my own part, 106 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:39,520 Speaker 1: I have never filled any chair yet as a mason 107 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:43,400 Speaker 1: that I found anyone could talk to me, but his 108 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:47,839 Speaker 1: answer was ready for him. So in that slightly awkwardly 109 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: worded letter that I've just made poor Tracy read, what 110 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 1: it really sums up to you is that it seems 111 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:58,800 Speaker 1: that Major Sheriiff was describing a situation almost exactly like 112 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 1: the other appointments in Edgerton's life, where he would hold 113 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:04,880 Speaker 1: a position of high rank, but other people were absolutely 114 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: going to do the actual work, and in fact, according 115 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:11,360 Speaker 1: to Alexander Graham's eighteen ninety two book A History of 116 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:14,760 Speaker 1: Freemasonry in the Province of Shropshire and of the Selopian 117 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 1: Lodge number two sixty two, Francis Edgerton was quote duly 118 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 1: appointed Provincial grand Master for Shropshire shortly afterwards, and was 119 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:29,040 Speaker 1: installed by sheriff in August. In seventeen ninety two, Francis 120 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 1: moved in with his father's cousin, the other Francis Edgerton, 121 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:36,120 Speaker 1: third Duke of Bridgewater, and that is where he stayed 122 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:38,880 Speaker 1: for quite a while, in an apartment at Bridgewater House, 123 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: which was located in Cleveland Court in London. He also 124 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,720 Speaker 1: traveled with the Duke out to the Duke's manor in Worsley. 125 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:49,560 Speaker 1: The Bridgewater Canal was opened in seventeen sixty one, and 126 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 1: it was built so the Duke could transport coal from 127 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:56,720 Speaker 1: his minds in Worsley into Manchester. So when the younger 128 00:07:56,800 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 1: Edgerton was there, he saw its workings and his real 129 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,640 Speaker 1: to his management of it. Because the Duke of Bridgewater 130 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:07,160 Speaker 1: was wealthy and influential, this also meant that his young 131 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:10,760 Speaker 1: relative was meeting lots of other wealthy and influential people 132 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:15,080 Speaker 1: as he lived with him, and this eventually led Francis 133 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 1: Henry Edgerton to write about the Duke's work. In eighteen hundred, 134 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:21,800 Speaker 1: he presented a paper to the Society of Arts about 135 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,640 Speaker 1: the design of the underground canals that have been developed 136 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:27,760 Speaker 1: by the Duke, and that one Francis Edgerton, third Duke 137 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: of Bridgewater, a gold medal for his invention. The younger 138 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:34,840 Speaker 1: Francis Edgerton did not win a medal, but his paper 139 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:38,760 Speaker 1: describing the inclined plane that was fundamental to the canals 140 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:42,480 Speaker 1: design was published in multiple journals, and it was also 141 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:45,199 Speaker 1: translated into other languages, so he got a good bit 142 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:49,000 Speaker 1: of clout out of the whole situation. Edgerton's life carries 143 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:53,320 Speaker 1: a sort of duality with regard to his behavior and personality. 144 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:56,800 Speaker 1: On the one hand, he really was a fairly serious, 145 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:01,080 Speaker 1: dedicated and accomplished academic, and on the other he was 146 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:06,400 Speaker 1: extremely eccentric in ways that have certainly raised some eyebrows 147 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:09,720 Speaker 1: in regards to his mental condition. Yeah, there are times 148 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:11,760 Speaker 1: where you'll read write ups about him where they're talking 149 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:14,800 Speaker 1: about his work and they're like, but he also did 150 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 1: things that made him seem like he was perhaps not 151 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:22,200 Speaker 1: in his right mind. Um, we'll talk a little bit 152 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:26,439 Speaker 1: more about his his academic work, but I promise for 153 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:29,320 Speaker 1: getting to some fun stuff. We did mention earlier his 154 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:32,120 Speaker 1: interest in natural theology, but he never actually wrote a 155 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:34,600 Speaker 1: book about that, although he did write twenty books in 156 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:38,720 Speaker 1: his lifetime. He did, however, include a mention of natural 157 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:41,560 Speaker 1: theology in an addenda that he published to his most 158 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:45,240 Speaker 1: well known publicly published work. He privately published a lot 159 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:48,479 Speaker 1: of it. That well known work was Hippolytus of Euripides, 160 00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:51,880 Speaker 1: and that book was first published in sevent six by 161 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:55,200 Speaker 1: Clarendon Press, and the notes that he published, which talked 162 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:57,880 Speaker 1: about natural theology among other things, did not come out 163 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 1: until twenty five years later. John Campbell, first Baron Campbell, 164 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:07,080 Speaker 1: offered a critique of some of Edgerton's work writing family biographies, 165 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:11,600 Speaker 1: calling one of them the quote worst piece of biography 166 00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:15,080 Speaker 1: that he had ever seen. This particular piece of writing 167 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: had been about Thomas Edgerton, first Viscount Brackley, who had 168 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:22,880 Speaker 1: been Lord Keeper and Lord Chancellor for Queen Elizabeth the First. 169 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:27,040 Speaker 1: Francis was proud of his family heritage and his ancestry. 170 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:29,880 Speaker 1: Even though he was apparently very critical of a lot 171 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:33,520 Speaker 1: of the members of his family. He wrote numerous books 172 00:10:33,559 --> 00:10:37,079 Speaker 1: about men of the family and their genealogy, and Campbell's 173 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: harsh critique either didn't bother him or it bothered him 174 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:45,480 Speaker 1: a whole lot, because he kept reprinting this Thomas Edgerton 175 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:52,760 Speaker 1: biography over and over, expanding on it every time. Yes, 176 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:56,280 Speaker 1: one write of about this whole thing I read said, 177 00:10:56,320 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 1: he just started to add really extraneous and nation that 178 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:05,840 Speaker 1: was not really important to augmenting that biographical work at all. Uh. 179 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:08,480 Speaker 1: We are going to talk about what happened when Francis 180 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:12,640 Speaker 1: Henry Edgerton's wealthy and famous cousin died after we take 181 00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:24,920 Speaker 1: a quick sponsor break. As for the relative who had 182 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:28,040 Speaker 1: been so much a part of Edgerton's life, the Duke 183 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:32,880 Speaker 1: of Bridgewater, had ultimately disappointed his cousin's son. When the 184 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:36,160 Speaker 1: Duke died in eighteen oh three, Francis had expected that 185 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:39,040 Speaker 1: he was going to inherit a significant part of the estate, 186 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 1: as he had been living alongside the Duke for more 187 00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:43,959 Speaker 1: than a decade and they had been very very close, 188 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:48,960 Speaker 1: and he did receive a significant inheritance. According to the 189 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:52,880 Speaker 1: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, the Duke left him forty 190 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:57,559 Speaker 1: thousand pounds. That's a lot of money. But he thought 191 00:11:57,679 --> 00:12:00,320 Speaker 1: that he was going to inherit the estates, and he 192 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:03,959 Speaker 1: was really unhappy that he did not. Prior to the 193 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:07,720 Speaker 1: Duke's passing, Francis had publicly stated to a lot of 194 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:10,679 Speaker 1: people of prominence that he intended to write a biography 195 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:14,680 Speaker 1: of his relative. But several years after the Duke died, Edgerton, 196 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 1: still apparently smarting from what he felt like was a snub, 197 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:21,640 Speaker 1: wrote an announcement that he would not be memorializing the 198 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:25,760 Speaker 1: third Duke of Bridgewater in writing. This inheritance, playing out 199 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:29,079 Speaker 1: the way it did, probably stung more than it normally 200 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:33,360 Speaker 1: would have due to some unfortunate timing. In eighteen o two, 201 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:36,280 Speaker 1: which was the year before the Duke died, France and 202 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:39,280 Speaker 1: the United Kingdom had signed the Treaty of Amien, and 203 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:42,360 Speaker 1: that had ended the War of the Second Coalition, and 204 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:45,920 Speaker 1: so Francis, who was in his late forties, had traveled 205 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:49,800 Speaker 1: to France for an extended visit. He was still there 206 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:52,640 Speaker 1: when the treaty was broken in eighteen o three, and 207 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:56,880 Speaker 1: things once again became hostile between the two countries. As 208 00:12:56,920 --> 00:13:00,080 Speaker 1: a brit he found himself under house arrested. He was 209 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 1: trapped in a country he claimed not to like all 210 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:05,920 Speaker 1: that much to begin with, and that happened just a 211 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:09,520 Speaker 1: few weeks after he received word that the Duke had died. 212 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:15,120 Speaker 1: Edgerton was trapped in Paris for three more years. Uh 213 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:20,240 Speaker 1: whether you think that is a hardship. He was finally 214 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:23,360 Speaker 1: only able to return to England in eighteen o six. 215 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:26,800 Speaker 1: That had just taken considerable work and finagling on the 216 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:30,600 Speaker 1: part of his friend, the scientist Sir Joseph Banks. In 217 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:34,880 Speaker 1: January eighteen o eight, Francis Edgerton's position among the titled 218 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:38,880 Speaker 1: families of England was elevated. Although he was not the 219 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:41,360 Speaker 1: son of an earl, he was granted the title and 220 00:13:41,559 --> 00:13:44,520 Speaker 1: precedence of an earl's son, and this was really just 221 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:48,160 Speaker 1: in recognition of his family's impressive lineage, and it was 222 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:50,960 Speaker 1: no doubt helped along by all of that writing he 223 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:54,000 Speaker 1: had been doing about the family line, and at this 224 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:57,480 Speaker 1: point his brother had been the Earl of Bridgewater, having 225 00:13:57,559 --> 00:14:02,000 Speaker 1: taken the title after their father cousin died for five years. 226 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:05,360 Speaker 1: In the time between that honor and the end of 227 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:08,360 Speaker 1: the first decade of the nineteenth century. Edgerton wrote a 228 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:12,360 Speaker 1: pamphlet under the pseudonym John Bull that framed the events 229 00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:15,959 Speaker 1: of his lifetime as prophetic of the second Coming of Christ. 230 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:19,880 Speaker 1: He wrote that the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars 231 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:23,080 Speaker 1: were clear signs of what was to come. This was 232 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:26,480 Speaker 1: a millinary in text. Edgerton was writing about the belief 233 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:29,000 Speaker 1: that there would be a thousand years at the end 234 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:31,000 Speaker 1: of the world that would be a time of peace 235 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:34,400 Speaker 1: and righteousness, and all things would change during that time. 236 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:38,160 Speaker 1: This was and is a controversial belief, and that's certainly 237 00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:41,800 Speaker 1: why he wrote this under a pseudonym. And it was 238 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:46,240 Speaker 1: not long after he published this pamphlet that Francis Edgerton 239 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: moved back to Paris, this time for good. Left some 240 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:53,880 Speaker 1: head scratching going on because his friends all knew. All 241 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:56,360 Speaker 1: he did was complained about how much he hated Paris. 242 00:14:56,400 --> 00:15:00,000 Speaker 1: But before leaving England he had asked for and received 243 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:03,200 Speaker 1: a leave of absence from his clerical duties, even though 244 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:06,640 Speaker 1: they were really still performed almost entirely by proxy. Anyway, 245 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:09,400 Speaker 1: he probably just could have strolled without making any paperwork 246 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 1: about it. Um. His request indicated that his health was bad, 247 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:17,040 Speaker 1: but he didn't exactly sit still in Paris, and in 248 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:19,680 Speaker 1: fact he traveled a great deal and was pretty active. 249 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:22,480 Speaker 1: So there has been some debate about what exactly was 250 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:24,960 Speaker 1: or was not going on with his health, and there 251 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:27,520 Speaker 1: have been rumors over the decades that he was feigning 252 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:30,160 Speaker 1: illness to be able to leave England for good, as 253 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,040 Speaker 1: he had fathered one or more children there and he 254 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:36,680 Speaker 1: was trying to run from that situation. That is a 255 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:41,120 Speaker 1: rumor that pops up throughout any discussion of him historically, 256 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:43,240 Speaker 1: but there is of course no evidence one way or 257 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:46,720 Speaker 1: the other. All this traveling that Edgerton was doing was 258 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:50,240 Speaker 1: in pursuit of his studies. He was buying manuscripts from 259 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 1: dealers all over Europe. Through those endeavors, he had expanded 260 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:57,640 Speaker 1: the network of intellectuals that he had started getting to 261 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 1: know when he was still living with the Duke. In 262 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:04,120 Speaker 1: eighteen fourteen, Francis purchased a home in the Rue Saint 263 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:07,840 Speaker 1: Honore that was the Hotel de Noi. He called this 264 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:11,600 Speaker 1: the Hotel Edgerton, and it became a destination for all 265 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:14,440 Speaker 1: the friends that he had made throughout the years. This 266 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:17,680 Speaker 1: was quite a spectacular place with a large garden in 267 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:20,440 Speaker 1: the back. It would have been great for entertaining. But 268 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:24,680 Speaker 1: even so he's rarely described as a particularly social person. 269 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:28,200 Speaker 1: Talk some more about that in a bit. And while 270 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:31,480 Speaker 1: he was living in Paris, Edgerton and his brother, John, 271 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:35,520 Speaker 1: the seventh Earl of Bridgewater started engaging in a good 272 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:38,800 Speaker 1: bit of very public bickering, and it was always over money, 273 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 1: how each of them was spending it, and how each 274 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:45,520 Speaker 1: brother disapproved of or resented the other's decisions. Up until 275 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:49,080 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty three, Francis Edgerton lived the life of a 276 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:53,720 Speaker 1: second son, meaning his older brother had inherited the family titles. 277 00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:57,920 Speaker 1: That brother, John William Edgerton, had been this sort of 278 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:01,440 Speaker 1: first son in the family that you might expect. John 279 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:04,840 Speaker 1: was three years older than Francis. He had risen through 280 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:07,280 Speaker 1: the ranks of the military in his career, and he 281 00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:10,359 Speaker 1: had served as a member of parliament. John had married 282 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:14,000 Speaker 1: Charlotte Catherine Anne Haynes in seventeen eighty three, but the 283 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:17,240 Speaker 1: two of them had never had children. So when John 284 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:22,280 Speaker 1: died in October of eight, Francis Edgerton inherited all of 285 00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:27,560 Speaker 1: his titles. Those included becoming the ninth Baron of Ellesmere County, Shropshire, 286 00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:31,600 Speaker 1: the ninth Viscount Brackley, and most famously the eighth Earl 287 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:35,560 Speaker 1: of Bridgewater. That meant that Francis Henry Edgerton, who was 288 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:39,480 Speaker 1: already living a pretty fabulous life thanks to his inheritance 289 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:42,919 Speaker 1: from the Duke, now had an income of forty thousand 290 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:47,439 Speaker 1: pounds per year, and he spent it in ways that 291 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:53,239 Speaker 1: we're both extravagant and unconventional. We promised some eccentricity and 292 00:17:53,359 --> 00:17:56,480 Speaker 1: here we go. Worth remembering as we talk about some 293 00:17:56,520 --> 00:17:59,560 Speaker 1: of these accounts is that he was living in a hotel, 294 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:06,080 Speaker 1: had lots of room. Yeah, that becomes completely germane. On 295 00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:09,600 Speaker 1: this first one, he was not living in a hotel room. 296 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:14,800 Speaker 1: It was his hotel. That was his house, which uh, 297 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:17,440 Speaker 1: I can't even um. We're going to start with an 298 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:21,320 Speaker 1: aspect of his foibles that I will confess I honestly love, 299 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:25,640 Speaker 1: even though it's completely impractical. He wore a new pair 300 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:30,520 Speaker 1: of shoes or boots every single day. He had a 301 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:33,879 Speaker 1: bootmaker essentially on retainer with a standing order to just 302 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:37,399 Speaker 1: keep that foot. We're coming. But he never disposed of 303 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:41,080 Speaker 1: any of these pairs of boots. He kept every single pair, 304 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:44,680 Speaker 1: and as he removed them, his valet was to add 305 00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:48,240 Speaker 1: them to the arranged collection, which was kept in meticulous order. 306 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:53,199 Speaker 1: Francis Edgerton used this space gobbling method of shoe management 307 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:57,080 Speaker 1: as a diary of sorts. He insisted that any of 308 00:18:57,080 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 1: his shoes not be cleaned before they were placed in 309 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:02,359 Speaker 1: their spot, so that if he wanted to recall what 310 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:04,720 Speaker 1: the weather was like on any given day or where 311 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:07,280 Speaker 1: he had been, he would examine the shoes that he 312 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:09,760 Speaker 1: wore and see what sorts of dirt they had walked through, 313 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:12,560 Speaker 1: or if they showed any signs of water stains, etcetera. 314 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:17,760 Speaker 1: The bootmaker also had another standing order, and this one 315 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:22,159 Speaker 1: is really quite something. Edgerton had an unknown number of pets, 316 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:25,320 Speaker 1: but it was a lot, and he had cats and 317 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:28,520 Speaker 1: dogs who lived in the hotel, and for each one 318 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:31,440 Speaker 1: of his dogs there was a full pair of boots 319 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:34,480 Speaker 1: that was custom made for each of their paws. Those 320 00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:37,960 Speaker 1: paws are measured, lasts were made for each of their feet. 321 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:43,359 Speaker 1: Can you imagine being the bootmaker who is like, I 322 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:45,920 Speaker 1: have the best slash worst deal in the world, Like 323 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: the money keeps coming in, but I also have to 324 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:53,600 Speaker 1: get dogs to stand still while I do their It's 325 00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:55,920 Speaker 1: so much more fabulous than that, because the dogs did 326 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:59,879 Speaker 1: not only wear shoes, they were full ensembles cut in 327 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:04,000 Speaker 1: the latest styles. We mentioned that Francis was not exactly 328 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:08,000 Speaker 1: known for socializing, but he definitely had very lavish dinner parties, 329 00:20:08,760 --> 00:20:11,920 Speaker 1: but these were almost always just for himself and his dogs. 330 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:16,840 Speaker 1: The pooches, fully dressed, were seated at the table. Each 331 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:19,760 Speaker 1: dog had their own footman to dress them and to 332 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:22,280 Speaker 1: thailand and napkins at their necks, and basically just stood 333 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:25,400 Speaker 1: behind their chairs and waited if they needed anything. The 334 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:28,800 Speaker 1: chef who cooked for the Earl and his dogs was 335 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:32,879 Speaker 1: the rival to previous podcast subject Marie Antoine Karem. His 336 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:37,960 Speaker 1: name was Andre Vard, and he compiled a cooking encyclopedia 337 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:42,040 Speaker 1: titled the Cuisinier Imperial, in which later editions came to 338 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:46,400 Speaker 1: be known as the Cuisinier Royal. He was considered one 339 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:50,960 Speaker 1: of the finest chefs in France, and the delectable meals 340 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:54,360 Speaker 1: that he prepared were served to the dogs on silver dishes, 341 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:57,879 Speaker 1: one course at a time. The sounds extreme, but the 342 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:01,320 Speaker 1: dogs had to hold up there into the deal to 343 00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:04,200 Speaker 1: attend these lavish dinners, which is to say that they 344 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:08,959 Speaker 1: were expected to behave with quote decency and decorum. But hello, 345 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:12,720 Speaker 1: these were dogs, so they did not always behave. And 346 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:16,119 Speaker 1: often repeated story is that two of his very favorites, 347 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:19,520 Speaker 1: which were named Biju and Beche that translates to Jewel 348 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:23,240 Speaker 1: and Doe in English, were not behaving properly as he 349 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:26,240 Speaker 1: wished for one meal, and Edgerton became very upset and 350 00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:29,639 Speaker 1: yelled quote, the blackguards have deceived me. I have treated 351 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 1: them like gentlemen, and they have behaved like rascals. Take 352 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:36,560 Speaker 1: their measure. They shall wear for eight days the yellow 353 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 1: coats and knee breeches of my valets, and shall stay 354 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:42,280 Speaker 1: in the ante room and be deprived of the honor 355 00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:45,760 Speaker 1: of seeing me for a week. That's right. He punished 356 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:48,880 Speaker 1: the dogs by making them dressed like house staff and 357 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:51,120 Speaker 1: living in the staff's rooms for a week when they 358 00:21:51,119 --> 00:21:54,280 Speaker 1: were not allowed to see him the master of the house. 359 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:58,439 Speaker 1: One Parisian journal wrote up Edgerton and his dogs and 360 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:02,640 Speaker 1: their dining arrangements, and including what would happen quote if 361 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:05,920 Speaker 1: by any chance one of them should, without due consideration, 362 00:22:06,119 --> 00:22:10,400 Speaker 1: obey the natural instinct of his appetite and transgress any 363 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:14,639 Speaker 1: of the rules of good manners. The punishment, according to 364 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:17,919 Speaker 1: the journal reads quote the day following the offense, the 365 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:21,240 Speaker 1: dog dines, and even dines well, but not at my 366 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:24,439 Speaker 1: lord's table. He eats in sorrow the bread of shame 367 00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:27,640 Speaker 1: and picks the bone of mortification, while his place at 368 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:31,439 Speaker 1: the table remains vacant till he has merited a generous pardon. 369 00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:35,280 Speaker 1: I wanted to include that just because of the bread 370 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:41,119 Speaker 1: of shame. Yeah. As an aside on these meals that 371 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:45,000 Speaker 1: were served at Hotel Edgerton, apparently, even though he had 372 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:47,480 Speaker 1: one of the finest chefs of the day working in 373 00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:50,560 Speaker 1: his kitchen, in the event that he did have a 374 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:54,000 Speaker 1: human guest for dinner, and sometimes he did, the Earl 375 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:56,760 Speaker 1: would have them eat what he thought was just a 376 00:22:56,840 --> 00:23:02,399 Speaker 1: fabulous English delicacy, boiled beef potatoes, and this was apparently 377 00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:07,120 Speaker 1: not particularly popular with any of said guests. We'll get 378 00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:10,040 Speaker 1: the even more of the curious behavior of Francis Edgerton 379 00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:12,280 Speaker 1: in a moment, but first we will hear from a 380 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:15,159 Speaker 1: sponsor that keeps stuff he missed in history class. Going 381 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,679 Speaker 1: during a particularly hot summer. The story goes that Edgerton 382 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:32,040 Speaker 1: decided to move his entire household to the country for 383 00:23:32,119 --> 00:23:35,280 Speaker 1: a spell of several months, and this, of course became 384 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:39,200 Speaker 1: an epic task of organizing and packing and arranging all 385 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:41,280 Speaker 1: of the many things in the earl's life that he 386 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:44,040 Speaker 1: felt he simply could not do without. And it took 387 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:47,359 Speaker 1: nearly a month to prepare and pack up all of 388 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:50,080 Speaker 1: those dogs and their caretaking needs, and all of his 389 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:52,679 Speaker 1: clothes and the dog's clothes, and all of the boots 390 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:56,040 Speaker 1: for the season, again for both him and a mystery 391 00:23:56,119 --> 00:23:59,520 Speaker 1: number of dogs. It's usually always discussed as well over 392 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:03,639 Speaker 1: a dozen all of the household goods like silver and linen's, etcetera. 393 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:07,280 Speaker 1: And in the end, the stats for the procession included 394 00:24:07,359 --> 00:24:12,639 Speaker 1: the carriages carrying Edgerton and his dogs, sixteen luggage carriages 395 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:16,960 Speaker 1: and thirty household staff, and those staff members rode on horseback. 396 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:19,919 Speaker 1: They did not get to ride in carriages. According to 397 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:23,399 Speaker 1: this story, they made their first stop for lunch. The 398 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:28,040 Speaker 1: details are sparse, but somehow Edgerton found the food and 399 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:31,719 Speaker 1: the service at this establishment were not good enough in 400 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:35,239 Speaker 1: his opinion, so rather than risk going any farther and 401 00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:39,560 Speaker 1: possibly encountering even more disappointment, he turned the whole entourage 402 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:41,840 Speaker 1: around and they were back home in Paris before the 403 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:45,320 Speaker 1: end of the day. I really hope that house staff 404 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:50,399 Speaker 1: was a good natured and welcome and well paid. The 405 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:53,600 Speaker 1: dogs were not only catered to by their own staff, 406 00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:56,920 Speaker 1: we should mention at home. For their daily exercise, they 407 00:24:56,960 --> 00:25:00,919 Speaker 1: traveled by carriage, lounging against plush pillow those to the 408 00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:03,480 Speaker 1: Bois de Boulogne, a large park at the edge of 409 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:06,200 Speaker 1: the sixteenth and they were dressed in all of their 410 00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:09,080 Speaker 1: finery for these outings. When they were to arrived at 411 00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:12,399 Speaker 1: the park, each dog had walk east with a dedicated attendant, 412 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:15,439 Speaker 1: and if it rained, those attendants carried umbrellas for the 413 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:19,960 Speaker 1: four legged gentlemen of Hotel Edgerton. For his part, the 414 00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:22,960 Speaker 1: eighth Earl of Bridgewater was always dressed to the nines. 415 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:26,679 Speaker 1: One brief biography that Holly red said that this was 416 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:30,000 Speaker 1: because he had an underbyte and was self conscious about 417 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:33,439 Speaker 1: his appearance, so all of these lavish clothes and the 418 00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:36,520 Speaker 1: dogs were away to draw attention from things that he 419 00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:39,600 Speaker 1: didn't want people to look at. That really seems like 420 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:44,119 Speaker 1: it's purely speculative, though, Yeah, there's also the argument to 421 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:48,160 Speaker 1: be made of like he could have just not Ben flamboyant. 422 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:49,720 Speaker 1: If he didn't want people to look at him like 423 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:54,200 Speaker 1: he's still drawing attention, just try trying to divert the eye. Um. 424 00:25:54,359 --> 00:25:56,960 Speaker 1: So we don't know that was if you ever read that, 425 00:25:57,080 --> 00:25:58,640 Speaker 1: just no, we don't know if that's true or not. 426 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:02,640 Speaker 1: You will often see it reported that Edgerton never learned 427 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:06,040 Speaker 1: to speak French despite living in Paris for years, and 428 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:09,600 Speaker 1: that he insisted that people converse with him in Latin. 429 00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:12,879 Speaker 1: And while this does seem to have a grain of truth, 430 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:17,159 Speaker 1: it also appears to be not entirely true. While he 431 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:20,119 Speaker 1: may not have entirely embraced the language, he didn't actually 432 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:22,920 Speaker 1: publish in French, although I saw one review this and 433 00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:26,280 Speaker 1: his His translations that he did in French were terrible. 434 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:29,720 Speaker 1: So one of his writings was a pamphlet in which 435 00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:34,159 Speaker 1: he strongly suggested the French employer canal system, similar to 436 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:36,840 Speaker 1: the one that his relative, the Duke had designed, and 437 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:39,200 Speaker 1: he also had other works that he thought were important 438 00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:42,760 Speaker 1: translated into French, including the works of Milton and his 439 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:46,400 Speaker 1: time as an earl. Edgerton found his thoughts turning to hunting. 440 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:49,120 Speaker 1: This was something he had enjoyed when he was in England, 441 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:54,080 Speaker 1: but since he apparently had no interest in returning to England, 442 00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:57,919 Speaker 1: he brought the sport to Paris by having all of 443 00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:02,400 Speaker 1: the accoutrement of the sport shipped over. This included a huntsman, 444 00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:05,159 Speaker 1: a pack of hounds and a fox, and then he 445 00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:09,880 Speaker 1: staged a fox hunt on the hotel grounds. Later, as 446 00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:14,000 Speaker 1: he was growing less robust than his health, Edgerton had 447 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:16,879 Speaker 1: pigeons and partridges brought to the hotel ground so he 448 00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:20,520 Speaker 1: could shoot at them at close range. This understandably bothered 449 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:24,000 Speaker 1: the neighbors. They did not appreciate the sound of gunshots 450 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:28,280 Speaker 1: ringing around the neighborhood. There are other tales of Francis 451 00:27:28,359 --> 00:27:31,720 Speaker 1: Edgerton that sometimes seemed pretty mythic. There is one that 452 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:35,679 Speaker 1: says that he refused to let Napoleon Bonaparte reroute the 453 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:38,840 Speaker 1: reuscent on Array when he was reorganizing the city, claiming 454 00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:42,119 Speaker 1: it would have ruined his access to the streets. The 455 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:46,280 Speaker 1: eighth Earl of Bridgewater died on February eleven eight in 456 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:50,800 Speaker 1: Paris at his hotel. He was seventy two at the time, 457 00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:54,159 Speaker 1: and he died a bachelor. Although his initial move to 458 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:57,520 Speaker 1: France had been shrouded in rumors of a possible child 459 00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:00,440 Speaker 1: who had been born out of wedlock, and the Oxford 460 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:04,200 Speaker 1: Dictionary of National Biography claims he had at least five children, 461 00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:06,120 Speaker 1: some of them in France and all of them out 462 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:09,680 Speaker 1: of wedlock. The Earl never had any children on record. 463 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:14,640 Speaker 1: News of his passing, when mentioned, was brief. For example, 464 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:17,600 Speaker 1: in the Aberdeen Journal of Northern Scotland. The notice, which 465 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:20,040 Speaker 1: was in a much larger list of deaths simply read 466 00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:23,880 Speaker 1: quote at his hotel in Ruscent Honore, Paris on thet 467 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:28,520 Speaker 1: was in Holy Orders and the senior Prebendary of Durham. 468 00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:32,320 Speaker 1: His father, Dr Edgerton was Bishop of Durham. He succeeded 469 00:28:32,359 --> 00:28:36,600 Speaker 1: his brother John William in eighteen twenty three, but dying unmarried, 470 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:40,360 Speaker 1: the title is extinct. He was buried at Little Gadsden, 471 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:45,040 Speaker 1: Hertfordshire on March fourth, in Bridgewater Chapel. Bridgewater's will was 472 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:49,360 Speaker 1: unusual and it reflected his eccentricities. He had made it 473 00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:55,040 Speaker 1: out almost exactly four years before his death on February. 474 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:58,640 Speaker 1: It passed through probate court as a proven document in 475 00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:02,720 Speaker 1: April of eighteen any nine. We mentioned in our episode 476 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:05,360 Speaker 1: on Peter Rogge that Bridgewater set aside money for the 477 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:09,360 Speaker 1: writing and publication of a series of books on quote, power, 478 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:12,800 Speaker 1: wisdom and goodness of God. As manifested in the creation. 479 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:16,240 Speaker 1: That money was a sum of eight thousand pounds, which 480 00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:18,960 Speaker 1: was left to the Royal Society, with the understanding that 481 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:22,320 Speaker 1: the Society President would appoint the appropriate authors to carry 482 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:26,160 Speaker 1: out this task. Eight men were selected to each write 483 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:31,160 Speaker 1: a treatise, Thomas Chalmers, John Kidd, William Wewell, Sir Charles Bell, 484 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:35,760 Speaker 1: Peter Mark Roge, William Buckland, William Kirby, and William Prout. 485 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:39,080 Speaker 1: And while Edgerton undoubtedly hoped that this would be a 486 00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:42,400 Speaker 1: significant legacy, and as you recall from that Roge episode, 487 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:45,760 Speaker 1: he thought his would be for sure, the writing of 488 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:49,400 Speaker 1: it was all pretty safe and even outdated in its idea. 489 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:52,840 Speaker 1: We also mentioned this in the Roge episode. And also 490 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:56,440 Speaker 1: this was just an expensive thing. He had left enough 491 00:29:56,480 --> 00:30:00,440 Speaker 1: money to print one thousand copies, but there were volumes. Involumes, 492 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:04,680 Speaker 1: they didn't sell very many. Um So, while it was 493 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:08,160 Speaker 1: a significant achievement in some way, certainly in terms of 494 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:12,040 Speaker 1: its impact, not so much. In addition to the provisions 495 00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:16,080 Speaker 1: for the Bridgewater Treatises, Francis Edgerton left money to various 496 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:21,080 Speaker 1: churches and learning institutions. He donated his significant collection of 497 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:25,200 Speaker 1: sixty seven manuscripts focused on French and Italian literature and 498 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:29,040 Speaker 1: history to the British Museum, along with about twelve thousand 499 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:33,240 Speaker 1: pounds for the purchase of additional items. Fifteen years after 500 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:38,120 Speaker 1: Francis Edgerton's death, his cousin Charles long Baron Farnborough left 501 00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:42,280 Speaker 1: another three thousand pounds to the Bridgewater Fund. The British 502 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:45,959 Speaker 1: Library maintains the Edgerton collection to this day and continues 503 00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:49,400 Speaker 1: to add to it. It has acquired nearly four thousand 504 00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:53,120 Speaker 1: new pieces with money from that fund. The Earls will 505 00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:56,320 Speaker 1: also allocated money to ensure that his home in Paris 506 00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:59,520 Speaker 1: could continue to operate just as if he were still 507 00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:03,160 Speaker 1: alive for a full two months. He also instructed that 508 00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:05,160 Speaker 1: each member of the staff there, and that was a 509 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:08,600 Speaker 1: considerable number of people, was to receive a new morning suit, 510 00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:11,520 Speaker 1: a cocked hat and three pair of the best quality 511 00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:15,680 Speaker 1: worsted wool stockings. And the Little Gadsden Church, where Francis 512 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:19,080 Speaker 1: Edgerton is buried, there is a monument to him. You 513 00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:22,360 Speaker 1: can see this online at the Little Gadsden Church website. 514 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:26,200 Speaker 1: There are also monuments to other members of his family there, 515 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:30,640 Speaker 1: but Francis specified the design of his in his will. 516 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:34,200 Speaker 1: It features a woman with her feet appearing to be 517 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:36,640 Speaker 1: in the sand of a seashore, and a dolphin is 518 00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:40,840 Speaker 1: at her feet. She's seated with her left elbow resting 519 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:44,440 Speaker 1: atop the ear of an elephant. A crane stands behind her, 520 00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:47,120 Speaker 1: with its body turned away from her, but its face 521 00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:50,080 Speaker 1: pointing in the same direction as hers, as though they're 522 00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:54,000 Speaker 1: looking at the same thing. No one knows why he 523 00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:58,360 Speaker 1: wanted any of these things on his monument. It's very specific. 524 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:04,560 Speaker 1: No not ledge of elephants being significant to him. No, no, 525 00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:08,600 Speaker 1: just perhaps he just thought it would be hilarious to 526 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:10,920 Speaker 1: make someone carve a thing with a bunch of different 527 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:14,240 Speaker 1: animals on it. Uh, Or maybe he just liked those animals. 528 00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:17,680 Speaker 1: We don't know. You might find it curious that we 529 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:21,200 Speaker 1: did not mention any dogs on that monument, considering how 530 00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:24,640 Speaker 1: he lavished love and gave a very extraordinary life to 531 00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:29,160 Speaker 1: the animals that he adopted, And in fact, interestingly enough, 532 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:32,760 Speaker 1: the dogs are excluded entirely from his will, with no 533 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:36,320 Speaker 1: mention whatsoever of them or arrangements for their care. So 534 00:32:36,360 --> 00:32:40,719 Speaker 1: we don't know what happened to the pups. My hope, 535 00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:44,400 Speaker 1: although this is a very made up in my head, hope, 536 00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:47,200 Speaker 1: is that they stayed with the people who had been 537 00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:49,800 Speaker 1: their minders, that those were good relationships. But I don't 538 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:56,720 Speaker 1: that's just my fairy tale version of happening. Do you 539 00:32:56,720 --> 00:33:00,520 Speaker 1: have some listener mail? I do. I have a listener 540 00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:04,640 Speaker 1: mail from our listener, Stephanie, who writes us about our 541 00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:10,000 Speaker 1: eponymous food recent episode where we talked about Feduccini Alfredo, writing, 542 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:13,080 Speaker 1: I adored your recent eponymous food episode. As a culinary 543 00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:15,520 Speaker 1: school grad and former food writer, I love all your 544 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:19,440 Speaker 1: uponymous food episodes, but the origins of fetuccini Alfredo hit 545 00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:22,320 Speaker 1: me much harder than the others. After the birth of 546 00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:25,000 Speaker 1: both of my sons, I experienced a side effect of 547 00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:29,480 Speaker 1: postpartum anxiety separate from postpartum depression but less talked about, 548 00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:32,360 Speaker 1: in which I completely lost my sense of taste and 549 00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:36,160 Speaker 1: also my appetite. Anxiety can do this to some people 550 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:38,480 Speaker 1: in the sense that it messes with your neurology and 551 00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:42,000 Speaker 1: causes you to experience and hadonia loss of pleasure in things, 552 00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:45,719 Speaker 1: and it's awful. I know some people have anxiety reactions 553 00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:48,160 Speaker 1: that make them eat more in order to get some pleasure. 554 00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:50,680 Speaker 1: But that is not the case with me my second son. 555 00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:53,920 Speaker 1: My anxiety was so profound that it did become depression. 556 00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:56,280 Speaker 1: And even scarier was that I ended up losing a 557 00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:59,320 Speaker 1: dangerous amount of weight just because of my extreme disinterest 558 00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:02,640 Speaker 1: in food and everything else. Luckily, I did get help, 559 00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:06,000 Speaker 1: and when I stopped breastfeeding and weaned my son, everything improved. 560 00:34:06,600 --> 00:34:08,880 Speaker 1: I don't have a problem talking about this, mostly because 561 00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:11,719 Speaker 1: I don't think we have enough conversations about the realities 562 00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:15,160 Speaker 1: of postpartum health and how it's not just depression. Now 563 00:34:15,200 --> 00:34:18,120 Speaker 1: I recognize that Alfredo's wife might not actually have been 564 00:34:18,160 --> 00:34:21,560 Speaker 1: suffering from postpartum anxiety or depression, but the lack of 565 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:24,000 Speaker 1: appetite following the birth of their child in a time 566 00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:27,400 Speaker 1: where we really didn't talk about postpartum health really resonated 567 00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:30,560 Speaker 1: with me. Therefore, I completely love the idea that maybe 568 00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:34,040 Speaker 1: this amazing dish was created as a caring husband's cure 569 00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:36,520 Speaker 1: for postpartum issues. Thank you again for all you do. 570 00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:38,719 Speaker 1: Not only do I look forward to your episodes, but 571 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:40,719 Speaker 1: so do my history obsessed twelve year old and his 572 00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:43,920 Speaker 1: younger brother cheers and best wishes, Stephanie. Stephanie, thank you 573 00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:45,799 Speaker 1: for this because I agree it's one of those things 574 00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:48,560 Speaker 1: we I know so little about it. I have not 575 00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:51,000 Speaker 1: had a child. I certainly have lots of friends and 576 00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:54,200 Speaker 1: relatives who have, but I do feel like postpartum issues 577 00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:58,360 Speaker 1: are one of those things that are like not discussed, 578 00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:00,160 Speaker 1: and for some people it's just because it's of it 579 00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:02,239 Speaker 1: and they don't want to relive it by discussing it. 580 00:35:02,280 --> 00:35:04,680 Speaker 1: But I also think it's important that people just know 581 00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:07,799 Speaker 1: that sometimes you can have anxiety. It can manifest in 582 00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:11,759 Speaker 1: lots of different ways. In my dreams, fed a Cheni 583 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:15,960 Speaker 1: Alfredo cures every possible not problem. Um, that would be 584 00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:19,759 Speaker 1: my excuse for all those gallons, I said. I. But 585 00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:22,160 Speaker 1: I'm so glad that things turn around and that your 586 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:24,680 Speaker 1: kids sound like they are happy and healthy, and that 587 00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:27,760 Speaker 1: you all listen. Um, it's wonderful. Thank you for sharing 588 00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:30,520 Speaker 1: this with us. If you would like to write to 589 00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:34,760 Speaker 1: us and share your stories, UM, maybe you too hire 590 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:37,759 Speaker 1: a very expensive chef to feed your dogs. That would 591 00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:42,000 Speaker 1: be great. If you have that story, please you can 592 00:35:42,080 --> 00:35:44,600 Speaker 1: do that at History Podcast at i heeart radio dot com. 593 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:47,040 Speaker 1: You can also find us on social media at Missed 594 00:35:47,080 --> 00:35:49,560 Speaker 1: in History and you can subscribe on the I heart 595 00:35:49,600 --> 00:35:52,319 Speaker 1: Radio app or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. 596 00:35:57,320 --> 00:35:59,480 Speaker 1: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of 597 00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:02,720 Speaker 1: I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, 598 00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:05,960 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 599 00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:11,480 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. H