Papers relating to the wardship of Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater

The papers were bundled together in the original list, and here form a composite series containing various documents, including some relating to earlier Earls and Dukes of Bridgewater, as well as a small number of papers relating to the wardship of the young Duke and his progress.

Francis Egerton (1736-1803) was the grandson of John Egerton (1646-1701) 3rd Earl of Bridgewater. John's brother, Thomas, continued the Egerton of Tatton line, while John became the ancestor of the Earls and Dukes of Bridgewater. Francis Egerton was a younger son of Scroop Egerton, 1st Duke, and his wife Rachel, daughter of the Duke of Bedford. Scroop died when Francis was only a young boy, and after his mother's remarriage he was neglected to an extent. His abilities were doubted by his family, who for a time considered excluding him from succession to the dukedom. However, in 1748, when he was 12, his elder brother died and he became 3rd Duke of Bridgewater. He was placed by the Court of Chancery under the wardship of Samuel Egerton, John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl of Gower, and John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford. Francis ultimately settled at his Lancashire property, Old Hall in Worsley, where he constructed a canal from his coal mines in Worsley to Manchester and undertook further pioneering work in canal building, becoming famous as the 'Canal Duke'.