94-771: The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in Manchester Square , the former townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquesses of Hertford . It is named after Sir Richard Wallace , who built the extensive collection, along with the Marquesses of Hertford, in the 18th and 19th centuries. The collection features fine and decorative arts from the 15th to the 19th centuries with important holdings of French 18th-century paintings, furniture, arms and armour, porcelain and Old Master paintings arranged into 25 galleries. It
188-558: A Book of Common Prayer that attempted to compromise between different teachings; it was replaced by a more severe form in 1552, after his fall. Prior to and during the Protectorate, the Book of Common Prayer was a central element of the emerging Protestant literature. Edward Seymour faced less manageable opposition from his younger brother Thomas , who has been described as a "worm in the bud". As King Edward's uncle, Thomas Seymour demanded
282-611: A central mansion, Hertford House, flanked by approach ways; its first name was Manchester House — its use is since 1897 as the Wallace Collection (gallery/museum) of fine and decorative arts sits alongside the Madame Tussauds museum and the Wigmore Hall concert rooms. The square forms part of west Marylebone, most of which sees minor but overarching property interests held by one owner (through lease reversions managed as
376-488: A few English and German pieces. The collection ranges from cabinet furniture, much of which is veneered with brass and turtleshell marquetry (commonly known as "Boulle" marquetry) or with wood marquetry, to seat furniture, clocks and barometers, gilt-bronze items including mounted porcelain and hardstones, mantelpieces, mirrors, boxes and pedestals. One highlight of the collection is the major collection of furniture attributed to André-Charles Boulle (1642–1732), perhaps
470-530: A few months later Lord High Admiral , a post which he almost immediately relinquished in favour of John Dudley , the future duke of Northumberland. In March 1544 he was made lieutenant-general of the north and instructed to punish the Scots for their repudiation of the treaty of marriage between Prince Edward and the infant Mary, Queen of Scots . He landed at Leith on 3 May 1544, captured and pillaged Edinburgh , and returned by land burning villages and castles along
564-510: A large number of extravagantly decorated 16th- and early-17th-century wheel-lock firearms, together with an impressive group of magnificent civilian flint-lock guns of the Napoleonic era. Several of the weapons here were made for European rulers, including Louis XIII and Louis XIV of France and Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. It is a major collection of early firearms in the United Kingdom. This space
658-466: A meeting had already been had between Hill and London representatives with John Dudley, then Earl of Warwick at Ely Palace . That meeting moved decisively against Somerset. Meanwhile, a united Council published details of Seymour's mismanagement of government. They made clear that the Protector's power came from them, not from Henry VIII's will. On 11 October, the council had Seymour arrested and brought
752-489: A network of garrisons in Scotland, stretching as far north as Dundee . His initial successes, however, were followed by a loss of direction. His aim of uniting the realms through conquest became increasingly unrealistic. The Scots allied with France, who sent reinforcements for the defence of Edinburgh in 1548, while Mary, Queen of Scots , was removed to France, where she was betrothed to the dauphin . The cost of maintaining
846-439: A pregnant Catherine Parr discovered Thomas Seymour embracing Princess Elizabeth. As a result, Elizabeth was removed from Catherine Parr's household and transferred to that of Sir Anthony Denny. In that September, Catherine Parr died in childbirth, and Thomas Seymour promptly resumed his attentions to Elizabeth by letter, planning to marry her. Elizabeth was receptive, but, like Edward, unready to agree to anything unless permitted by
940-509: A serious threat. He issued a proclamation calling for assistance, took possession of the king's person, and withdrew for safety to the fortified Windsor Castle , where Edward said, "Methinks I am in prison". By 7 October he was writing desperately to Sir Rowland Hill , Lord Mayor of London , and a fellow member of the Privy Council requesting 1000 troops to defend him and the King. By this point
1034-550: A smoking room lined with Minton tiles in Turkish style. Under the architect Thomas Ambler a new front portico was added in the form of a porte-cochère , with large Doric pilasters, storeys were added to both wings and the stables and coach house were converted to galleries by the addition of top-lit roofs. The whole building was given a red brick facade and the windows were altered. Wallace bequeathed all his assets to his wife, who in turn and most probably according to his wishes, bequeathed
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#17328451865581128-504: A trial, so Thomas was condemned instead by an Act of Attainder and beheaded on 20 March 1549. Edward Seymour's only undoubted skill was as a soldier, which he had proved on his expeditions to Scotland and in the defence of Boulogne in 1546. From the first, his main interest as Protector was the war against Scotland. After a crushing victory at the Battle of Pinkie in September 1547, he set up
1222-409: Is a non-departmental public body and the current director is Xavier Bray. The Wallace Collection is a museum which displays works of art collected in the 18th and 19th centuries by five generations of a British aristocratic family – the first four Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace , the illegitimate son of the 4th Marquess . In the 19th century, the Marquesses of Hertford were one of
1316-476: Is known for its 18th-century French paintings, Sèvres porcelain and French furniture but also displays other objects, such as arms and armour featuring both European and Oriental objects, as well as displays of gold boxes, miniatures, sculpture and medieval and Renaissance works of art such as maiolica , glass, bronzes and Limoges enamels . The works of art in the Collection comprise: The Wallace Collection
1410-540: Is open to the public and entry is free. It was established in 1897 from the private collection mainly created by Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford (1800–1870), who left both it and the house to his illegitimate son Sir Richard Wallace (1818–1890), whose widow Julie Amelie Charlotte Castelnau bequeathed the entire collection to the nation. The collection opened to permanent public view in 1900 in Hertford House, and remains there to this day. A condition of
1504-503: Is split into six curatorial departments: Pictures and Miniatures; Ceramics and Glass; Sculpture and Works of Art; Arms and Armour; Sèvres porcelain; and Gold Boxes and Furniture. The Wallace Collection's Old Master paintings are some of the most prominent in the world, and date from the 14th to the mid-19th centuries. The highlights include Dutch and Flemish paintings of the 17th century, 18th- and 19th-century French paintings, and works by English, Italian and Spanish artists. Strengths of
1598-461: The Duke of Manchester 's development of the square, on Portman land. Their materials are brown brick, recessed slate roofs above five varying-prominence storeys with 3-window wide fronts. They have semicircular arched doorways to right; panelled doors with sidelights and fanlights; one a stuccoed Doric porch. Their windows are recessed sashes, in stuccoed reveals, under flat gauged arches. Reaching out below
1692-668: The English Reformation , and in 1549 imposed the first Book of Common Prayer through the Act of Uniformity , offering a compromise between Protestant and Roman Catholic teachings. The unpopularity of Somerset's religious measures, along with agrarian grievances, resulted in unrest in England and provoked a series of uprisings (including the Prayer Book Rebellion and Kett's Rebellion ). Costly wars and economic mismanagement brought
1786-490: The Portman Estate ) among which many buildings have been recognised by statutory protection (as listed buildings ). Among residents figured: This six-house long approach fronts the east side of Hertford House (or its small public front lawn with steps, benches and paths). The first five buildings of Spanish Place are those listed, in the mainstream, initial category of Grade II. They were built c.1780-90, associated with
1880-599: The Royal Collection , Waddesdon Manor , the collections of the Duke of Buccleuch , the Getty Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art as one of the greatest and most celebrated in the world. Totalling more than five hundred pieces, the collection consists largely of 18th-century French furniture but also includes some significant pieces of 19th-century French furniture, as well as interesting Italian furniture and
1974-502: The Vagabonds Act 1547 , which dictated that able-bodied men who were unemployed for three days or more should be sold into slavery for two years. This law was deeply unpopular and turned many people against him, particularly local officials who were blamed for enforcing the Act. Seymour also attempted to bring uniformity to forms of worship, and in 1549 the first Act of Uniformity introduced
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#17328451865582068-577: The revolutionary sales , held in France after the end of the French Revolution . The Wallace Collection, Waddesdon Manor and the Royal Collection , all three located in the United Kingdom, are some of the largest, most important collections of French 18th-century decorative arts in the world, rivalled only by the Musée du Louvre , Château de Versailles and Mobilier National in France. The Wallace Collection
2162-646: The 1970s historians had a highly positive view of Somerset, seeing him as a champion of political liberty and the common people, but since then he has also often been portrayed as an arrogant and inept ruler of the Tudor state. Edward Seymour was born c. 1500, the son of Sir John Seymour (1474–1536), feudal baron of Hatch Beauchamp in Somerset, by his wife Margery Wentworth , eldest daughter of Sir Henry Wentworth of Nettlestead, Suffolk , and descended from Edward III . In 1514, aged about 14, he received an appointment in
2256-511: The 26th he repelled an attempt of Marshal de Biez to recapture the town. In May he was once more appointed lieutenant-general in the north to avenge the Scottish victory at the Battle of Ancrum Moor ; this he did by a savage foray into Scotland in September. He reported that on 16 September 1545 he had "sent forth a good band to the number of 1500 light horsemen in the leading of me [and] Sir Robert Bowes , which from 5 a.m. till 3 p.m., forayed along
2350-544: The Crown to financial ruin, further undermining his government. In October 1549, Somerset was forced out of power and imprisoned in the Tower of London by John Dudley, Earl of Warwick , and a group of privy councillors. He was later released and reconciled with Warwick (now Duke of Northumberland), but in 1551 Northumberland accused him of treason, and he was executed in January 1552. Until
2444-459: The Front State Room, then, as now, hung with portraits. Some of the modern furniture seen in the room in 1890 is no longer in the collection, but the mounted porcelain displayed on the cabinets and the chandelier , made by Jean-Jacques Caffiéri , have been returned to the room. Displays: The Rococo at the time of Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour The Back State Room is today dedicated to
2538-507: The Louvre, as well as the finest parts of the collection of Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick , a pioneering collector and scholar of arms and armour. The arms and armour collections are today recognised as among the finest in the world. During Sir Richard Wallace's lifetime, this room formed part of the stables with the grooms' bedrooms on a mezzanine floor. Sir Richard's European arms and armour were displayed in one large gallery, today's West Gallery III, on
2632-523: The Middle Ages and Renaissance. The Sixteenth-Century Gallery comprised two smaller rooms during Sir Richard and Lady Wallace's lifetime. The contemporary photograph shows how one room was arranged by Sir Richard as a cabinet of curiosities, with paintings and maiolica densely hung on the walls and smaller works of art kept in cases or inside Renaissance cabinets. The other room, known as the Canaletto Room,
2726-422: The Privy Council to do little more than rubber-stamp his decisions. Seymour's takeover of power was smooth and efficient. The imperial ambassador Francis van der Delft reported that he "governs everything absolutely", with Paget operating as his secretary, although he predicted trouble from John Dudley, Viscount Lisle , who had recently been raised to Earl of Warwick in the share-out of honours. In fact, in
2820-418: The Protector within two years and "bear rule as other kings do"; but Edward, schooled to defer to the council, failed to co-operate. In April 1547, using King Edward's support to circumvent his brother's opposition, Thomas Seymour secretly married Henry VIII's widow Catherine Parr , whose Protestant household included the 11-year-old Lady Jane Grey and the 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth . In summer 1548,
2914-451: The Protector's door. In July 1549, Paget wrote to Seymour: "Every man of the council have misliked your proceedings ... would to God, that, at the first stir you had followed the matter hotly, and caused justice to be ministered in solemn fashion to the terror of others ...". The sequence of events that led to Seymour's removal from power has often been called a coup d'état . By 1 October 1549, Seymour had been alerted that his rule faced
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3008-531: The Protector's massive armies and his permanent garrisons in Scotland also placed an unsustainable burden on the royal finances. A French attack on Boulogne in August 1549 at last forced Seymour to begin a withdrawal from Scotland. During 1548, England was subject to social unrest. After April 1549, a series of armed revolts broke out, fuelled by various religious and agrarian grievances. The two most serious rebellions required major military intervention to put down: one
3102-458: The Protector's support, convinced that the landlords were the lawbreakers. The same justification for outbreaks of unrest was voiced throughout the country, not only in Norfolk and the west. The origin of the popular view of Edward Seymour as sympathetic to the rebel cause lies partly in his series of sometimes liberal, often contradictory, proclamations. and partly in the uncoordinated activities of
3196-528: The Wallace Collection were largely collected by the 4th Marquess of Hertford in the 1860s, the last decade of his life. Like many of his contemporaries, Sir Richard Wallace used this material to bring Oriental exoticism, as it was then considered, into his fashionable London house. The Oriental Armoury was displayed on the first floor of Hertford House. Trophies of arms and armour from India, the Middle East,
3290-488: The age of 18. These executors were supplemented by twelve men "of counsail" who would assist the executors when called on. The final state of Henry VIII's will has occasioned controversy. Some historians suggest that those close to the king manipulated either him or the will itself to ensure a shareout of power to their benefit, both material and religious. In this reading, the composition of the Privy Chamber shifted towards
3384-544: The appointment of a Protector. It entrusted the government of the realm during his son's minority to a Regency Council that would rule collectively, by majority decision, with "like and equal charge". Nevertheless, a few days after Henry's death, on 4 February, the executors chose to invest almost regal power in Edward Seymour. Thirteen out of the sixteen (the others being absent) agreed to his appointment as Protector, which they justified as their joint decision "by virtue of
3478-456: The art collection to take up residence in England, following the unstable political climate in France following the Prussian Siege of Paris (1870–1871). Wallace in turn expanded the art collection, adding medieval and Renaissance objects and European arms and armour. Between 1872–1882 the house was much altered by Sir Richard Wallace, who added a rear extension to house his art collection with
3572-481: The aspect it had in Sir Richard Wallace's day more than any other room in the building. This room reveals the opulence of the London town house in the 1870s and sets the scene for visitors to the Wallace Collection. The State Rooms were the grandest rooms in the house, in which the most important visitors were received. When it was the home of Sir Richard and Lady Wallace, visitors to Hertford House first entered
3666-512: The authority" of Henry's will. Seymour may have done a deal with some of the executors, who almost all received hand-outs; he is known to have done so with William Paget , private secretary to Henry VIII, and to have secured the support of Sir Anthony Browne of the Privy Chamber. Seymour's appointment was in keeping with historical precedent, and his eligibility for the role was reinforced by his military successes in Scotland and France. He
3760-494: The awe-inspiring jousts, tournaments and festivals of the time. Fine arms and armour were considered works of art as much as warlike equipment. Displayed in this gallery are some of the finest examples of the armourer's art, exquisite sculptures richly embellished with gold and silver. This space was formerly part of Sir Richard Wallace's stables. Displays: Later Arms and Armour (sixteenth to nineteenth centuries) The array of sporting guns, rifles and pistols in this room includes
3854-493: The bequest was that no object should ever leave the collection, even for loan exhibitions. However in September 2019, the board of trustees announced that they had obtained an order from the Charity Commission for England & Wales which allowed them to enter into temporary loan agreements for the first time. The United Kingdom is particularly rich in the works of the ancien régime , purchased by wealthy families during
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3948-566: The best-known cabinet-maker ever to have lived. Joseph Baumhauer – 1 item: André-Charles Boulle – 22 items: Manchester Square Manchester Square is an 18th-century garden square in Marylebone , London . Centred 950 feet (290 m) north of Oxford Street it measures 300 feet (91 m) internally north-to-south, and 280 feet (85 m) across. It is a small Georgian predominantly 1770s-designed instance in central London; construction began around 1776. The north side has
4042-420: The chosen setting for cheaper newspapers and, above all, their inner page articles to perpetuate a fresh round of the urban myth of a pig-faced woman . The cover photograph for Please Please Me , the first LP by The Beatles , was taken by Angus McBean in 1963. It showed the group looking down over the stairwell inside EMI House in the square, EMI's London headquarters (now demolished). A repeat photo
4136-523: The collection and it was opened as a museum in 1900. As a museum the Wallace Collection's main strength is 18th-century French art : paintings, furniture, porcelain, sculpture and gold snuffboxes and 16th- to 19th-century paintings by such as Titian , Van Dyck , Rembrandt , Hals , Velázquez , Gainsborough and Delacroix , a collection of arms and armour and medieval and Renaissance objects including Limoges enamels , maiolica , glass and bronzes. Paintings, furniture and porcelain are displayed together in
4230-533: The collection include 5 Rembrandts (and school), 9 Rubens's, 4 Van Dycks, 8 Canalettos, 9 Guardis, 19 François Bouchers, Fragonard , 9 Murillos, 9 Teniers, 2 Titians, Poussin , 3 Velázquezs and 8 Watteaus. The inventory of pictures, watercolours and drawings comprises all the major European schools. Dutch School: English School Flemish School French School: Italian School Spanish School There are fine examples of porcelain on display, including Meissen porcelain , and one of
4324-401: The commissions he sent out in 1548 and 1549 to investigate grievances about loss of tillage, encroachment of large sheep flocks on common land , and similar issues. Seymour's commissions were led by the evangelical M.P. John Hales , whose socially liberal rhetoric linked the issue of enclosure with Reformation theology and the notion of a godly commonwealth . Local groups often assumed that
4418-473: The conservatory, in place of a Venetian window on the Landing and two first-floor rooms on each wing. The Porphyry Court was little more than a rather dismal back yard until 2000, when it was transformed by being doubled in size and provided with a dramatic pair of flights of stairs. The Collection numbers nearly 5,500 objects, a range of fine and decorative arts from the 15th to the 19th centuries. The collection
4512-472: The council. In January 1549, the council had Thomas Seymour arrested on various charges, including embezzlement at the Bristol mint . King Edward himself testified about the pocket money. Most importantly, Thomas Seymour had sought to officially receive the governorship of King Edward, for no earlier Lord Protectors, unlike Edward Seymour, had ever held both functions. Lack of clear evidence for treason ruled out
4606-586: The day over an enjoyable pipe or cigar. The room had oriental interiors, with walls lined with Turkish-style tiles made by the Minton factory in Stoke-on-Trent, the floor laid with a patterned mosaic. A small section of this interior survives in the alcove at the north end of the room. This was not only a highly fashionable look for a late Victorian smoking room but also practical, ensuring the smell of smoke did not linger in any fabric furnishings. The Landing serves as
4700-674: The early weeks of his Protectorate, Seymour met opposition only from the Lord Chancellor , Thomas Wriothesley , whom the Earldom of Southampton had evidently failed to buy off, and from his own brother. Wriothesley, a religious conservative, objected to Seymour's assumption of monarchical power over the council. He then found himself abruptly dismissed from the chancellorship on charges of selling off some of his offices to delegates. In his first parliament, which met in November 1547, Seymour procured
4794-464: The end of 1546 in favour of the Protestant faction . In addition, two leading conservative Privy Councillors were removed from the centre of power. Stephen Gardiner was refused access to Henry during his last months. Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk , found himself accused of treason ; on 24–25 December, he offered his vast estates to the Crown making them available for redistribution, and he spent
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#17328451865584888-515: The findings of these commissions entitled them to act against offending landlords themselves. King Edward wrote in his Chronicle that the 1549 risings began "because certain commissions were sent down to pluck down enclosures". Whatever the popular view of the Duke of Somerset, the disastrous events of 1549 were taken as evidence of a colossal failure of government, and the Council laid the responsibility at
4982-449: The first floor is a stucco plat band , painted stone or stucco cornice over the next, then a stucco cornice and blocking course marking the attic storey. Original, cast iron, geometric patterned balconies adorn the first floor. Cast iron area railings with urn finials enclose the front. №3 has a blue plaque as the home of Captain Marryat and George Grossmith. In 1814 and 1815, the square was
5076-459: The first floor, directly above European Armoury I. Displays: Renaissance Arms and Armour (fifteenth to seventeenth centuries) The Wallace Collection contains some of the most spectacular Renaissance arms and armour in Britain. All of the richest and most powerful noblemen of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries commissioned beautifully decorated weapons and armour, not just for war, but also for use in
5170-506: The freehold from the Portman Estate . Hertford House first opened as a museum on 22 June 1900. In 2000, the inner courtyard was given a glass roof and a restaurant was opened named "Cafe Bagatelle" after the Château de Bagatelle in Paris purchased in 1835 by Francis Seymour-Conway, 3rd Marquess of Hertford , later part of Scott's inheritance. The museum display does not aim to reconstruct the state of
5264-501: The garrisons he established throughout the Lowlands to wear down Scottish opposition, but their pressure was soon weakened by troubles in England and abroad; and Mary, Queen of Scots , having been betrothed to Francis , heir to the French throne, was transported to France in 1548, where the two married ten years later. To deal with the widespread social problems in England, Seymour introduced
5358-546: The governorship of the king's person and a greater share of power. Seymour tried to buy his brother off with a barony , an appointment to the Lord Admiralship , and a seat on the Privy Council—but Thomas was bent on scheming for power. He began smuggling pocket money to King Edward, telling him that the Duke of Somerset held the purse strings too tight, making him a "beggarly king". He also urged him to throw off
5452-538: The house when Sir Richard and Lady Wallace lived here. The Entrance Hall contains marble busts of the three principal founders of the Wallace Collection: Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford (1800–1870), his son, Sir Richard Wallace (1818–1890) and in the lobby, Lady Wallace, who bequeathed the contents of Hertford House to the British nation on her death in 1897. The room has retained
5546-671: The household of Mary Tudor, Queen of France , and was enfant d'honneur at her marriage with Louis XII . Seymour served in the Duke of Suffolk 's campaign in France in 1523, being knighted by the duke on 1 November, and accompanied Cardinal Wolsey on his embassy to France in 1527. Appointed Esquire of the Body to Henry VIII in 1529, he grew in favour with the king, who visited his manor at Elvetham in Hampshire in October 1535. When Seymour's sister, Jane , married King Henry VIII in 1536, Edward
5640-433: The king to Richmond . Edward summarised the charges against Somerset in his Chronicle : "ambition, vainglory, entering into rash wars in mine youth, negligent looking on Newhaven, enriching himself of my treasure, following his own opinion, and doing all by his own authority, etc." In February 1550, John Dudley, Earl of Warwick , emerged as the leader of the Council and, in effect, as Seymour's successor. Although Seymour
5734-581: The lands of the old Ottoman Empire, and the Far East, patterned the walls of the Oriental Armoury, whilst the ceiling was decorated with a pattern of gold stars on a deep blue background. Displays: Medieval and Renaissance Arms and Armour (tenth to sixteenth centuries) Sir Richard Wallace acquired most of his European armour in 1871, when he bought the collections of the comte Alfred Emilien de Nieuwekerke, Minister of Fine Arts to Napoleon III and director of
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#17328451865585828-547: The lease of Hertford House, passed to his distant cousin Francis Seymour, 5th Marquess of Hertford (1812–1884). However the 4th Marquess's illegitimate son and heir of his unentailed estate, Sir Richard Wallace, 1st Baronet (1818–1890), inherited his art collection, French and Irish estates, and re-purchased Sudbourne Hall in Suffolk and in 1871 the lease of Hertford House from the 5th Marquess, and returned from Paris with much of
5922-589: The lease was acquired in 1797 by Francis Ingram-Seymour-Conway, 2nd Marquess of Hertford (1743–1822), who in 1814 held there the Allied Sovereigns' Ball after the first defeat of Napoleon in 1814. Francis Seymour-Conway, 3rd Marquess of Hertford (1777–1842), the family's first great art collector, lived mainly at his other London residences, Dorchester House in Mayfair and St Dunstan’s Villa in Regents Park, now
6016-531: The main orientation point on the first floor. It is hung with mythological and pastoral paintings by Boucher and is also perhaps the best place to admire the wrought iron work of the staircase balustrade, made in 1719 for the Royal bank in Paris. Hertford House was built in 1776–78 for the 4th Duke of Manchester. After a brief spell as the Spanish Embassy, it was bought by the 2nd Marquess of Hertford in 1797. He added
6110-522: The main part of her husband's art collection to the nation, thus forming the "Wallace Collection", the rest, including the French properties and Hertford House, going to the couple's secretary Sir John Murray Scott, 1st Baronet . Scott sold the lease of Hertford House to the UK Government, as a suitable home for the Wallace Collection, after which he was rewarded with a baronetcy, and the Government acquired
6204-719: The manner of private collections of the 19th century. The 16th- and 17th-century Hertford House was the London townhouse of Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford (1539–1621) and was in a different location: Cannon Row in Westminster. His father Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (executed 1552), brother of Queen Jane Seymour , had started building the palatial Somerset House on the Strand as his townhouse, but did not live to see its completion. The present House in Manchester Square
6298-443: The morning". Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset was interred at St. Peter ad Vincula , Tower of London . Historians have contrasted the efficiency of Edward Seymour's takeover of power in 1547 with the subsequent ineptitude of his rule. By autumn 1549, his costly wars had lost momentum, the crown faced financial ruin, and riots and rebellions had broken out around the country. Until recent decades, Seymour's reputation with historians
6392-411: The only noblemen of fit age and capacity to carry on the government; and Surrey's attempt to secure the predominance of his family led to his own execution and to his father's imprisonment in the Tower of London . Upon the death of Henry VIII (28 January 1547), Seymour's nephew became king as Edward VI . Henry VIII's will named sixteen executors , who were to act as Edward's Council until he reached
6486-462: The patronage of King Louis XV (1715–1774) and his mistress, Madame de Pompadour. It displays some of the prominent examples in the Wallace Collection of art in the rococo style. Sir Richard Wallace used the Back State Room to entertain guests at Hertford House. During his lifetime it had wooden boiserie panelling on the wall; the great chandelier, by Jacques Caffiéri , dating from 1751, remains in
6580-480: The political and administrative skills necessary for governing the Tudor state. Edward Seymour married twice: The male line of Edward Seymour and Anne Stanhope died out with the seventh Duke of Somerset in 1750, when the descendants of Edward Seymour by his first wife, Catherine Fillol, inherited the Somerset dukedom in accordance with the private act of 1540. However, the female line continued, and Queen Elizabeth II
6674-455: The repeal of all the heresy laws and nearly all the treason laws passed since Edward III . He sought to win over the Scots by those promises of autonomy, free trade, and equal privileges with England. But the Scots were not to be won over yet, and would not be persuaded; the protector led another army into Scotland in September 1547, and won the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh on 10 September. He trusted
6768-828: The rest of the square stand tall brick Georgian terraced houses, many of which are inside converted to offices. Manchester Square Fire Station , just over a full block north-west, in retail/leisure street Chiltern Street , was decommissioned in June 2005 by the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) and, expanding further south, forms a luxury hotel and restaurant. 51°31′00″N 0°09′10″W / 51.5167°N 0.15272°W / 51.5167; -0.15272 Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp KG , PC (1500 – 22 January 1552), also known as Edward Semel ,
6862-465: The room. Displays: Eighteenth-century still lifes and portraits The room contains masterworks of French 18th-century portraiture by Nattier and Houdon and two oil sketches by Jean François de Troy , for decoration of Louis XV's dining room in Fontainebleau, shown to the king for approval. Displays: The Decorative Arts under Louis XIV Displays: Visitor Reception and Cloakroom This room
6956-770: The site of the residence of the US Ambassador. Between 1836-51 Hertford House was let for use as the French Embassy. His son Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford (1800–1870), who expanded his father's art collection, lived most of his life in Paris, and rarely visited Hertford House, used "largely as a store for his ever-expanding art collection". He is said never to have visited his principal English country seat of Ragley Hall in Warwickshire. The 4th Marquess died in 1870, aged 70 in Paris, unmarried and without legitimate issue, and his titles and entailed estates, including
7050-513: The waters of Tyvyote and Rowle , 6 or 7 miles beyond Jedburgh, and burnt 14 or 15 towns and a great quantity of all kinds of corn". In March 1546 he was sent back to Boulogne to supersede the Earl of Surrey , whose command had not been a success; and in June he was engaged in negotiations for peace with France and for the delimitation of the English conquests. From October to the end of Henry's reign he
7144-440: The way. In July 1544 he was appointed lieutenant of the realm under Catherine Parr , Henry's sixth wife and regent , during Henry's absence at Boulogne , but in August he joined the king and was present at the surrender of the town. In the autumn he was one of the commissioners sent to Flanders to keep Emperor Charles V to the terms of his treaty with England, and in January 1545 he was placed in command at Boulogne, where on
7238-509: The wealthiest families in Europe. They owned large properties in England, Wales and Ireland, and increased their wealth through successful marriages. Politically of lesser importance, the 3rd and 4th Marquess and Sir Richard Wallace became leading art collectors of their time. The Wallace Collection, comprising about 5,500 works of art, was bequeathed to the British nation by Lady Wallace in 1897. The state then decided to buy Hertford House to display
7332-414: The whole of Edward's reign in the Tower of London . Other historians have argued that Gardiner's exclusion had non-religious causes, that Norfolk was not noticeably conservative in religion, that conservatives remained on the council, and that the radicalism of men such as Sir Anthony Denny , who controlled the dry stamp that replicated the king's signature, is debatable. Whatever the case, Henry's death
7426-455: The world's major collections of 18th-century Sèvres porcelain . It includes 137 vases, 80 tea wares, 67 useful wares, 3 biscuit figures and 130 plaques (mostly on furniture), and was acquired by the Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace between c. 1802–75. The Wallace Collection holds one of the most important collections of French furniture in the UK, and ranks alongside the Musée du Louvre ,
7520-423: Was an English nobleman and politician who served as Lord Protector of England from 1547 to 1549 during the minority of his nephew King Edward VI . He was the eldest surviving brother of Queen Jane Seymour , the third wife of King Henry VIII . Seymour grew rapidly in favour with Henry VIII following Jane's marriage to the king in 1536, and was subsequently made Earl of Hertford . On Henry's death in 1547, he
7614-497: Was appointed protector by the Regency Council on the accession of the nine-year-old Edward VI. Rewarded with the title Duke of Somerset , Seymour became the effective ruler of England. Somerset continued Henry's military campaign against the Scots and achieved a sound victory at the Battle of Pinkie , but ultimately he was unable to maintain his position in Scotland. Domestically, Somerset pursued further reforms as an extension of
7708-541: Was created Viscount Beauchamp on 5 June 1536, and Earl of Hertford on 15 October 1537. He became Warden of the Scottish Marches and continued in royal favour after his sister's death on 24 October 1537. In 1541, during Henry's absence in the north, Hertford, Thomas Cranmer and Thomas Audley had the chief management of affairs in London. In September 1542 he was appointed Warden of the Scottish Marches , and
7802-583: Was followed by a lavish hand-out of lands and honours to the new power group. The will contained an "unfulfilled gifts" clause, added at the last minute, which allowed Henry's executors to freely distribute lands and honours to themselves and the court, particularly to Seymour (then known as Earl of Hertford), who became the Lord Protector of the Realm and Governor of the King's Person, and who created himself Duke of Somerset . Henry VIII's will did not provide for
7896-448: Was formerly Sir Richard and Lady Wallace's breakfast room. As this photograph from c. 1890 shows, it contained a large cabinet filled with Sèvres porcelain dinner wares, probably more for use than decoration, and sixteen Dutch pictures. The French chimneypiece in this room was made in the mid-18th century and installed in this room when the house was modified for Sir Richard and Lady Wallace. Displays: Wallace Collection Shop This room
7990-469: Was formerly part of Sir Richard Wallace's coach house and stable yard. Displays: The Collector's Cabinet The Sixteenth-Century Gallery houses works of art from the Medieval and Renaissance periods and a group of important Renaissance paintings. This part of the Wallace Collection was mainly assembled by Sir Richard who, like many 19th-century collectors, was fascinated by the art and history of Europe during
8084-452: Was high, in view of his many proclamations that appeared to back the common people against a rapacious landowning class. In the early 20th century this line was taken by the influential A. F. Pollard , and was echoed by Edward VI's 1960s biographer W. K. Jordan . A more critical approach was initiated by M. L. Bush and Dale Hoak in the mid-1970s. Since that time the first Duke of Somerset has often been portrayed as an arrogant ruler, devoid of
8178-611: Was in Devon and Cornwall , the other in Norfolk . The first, called the Prayer Book Rebellion (and also known as the Western rebellion), arose mainly from the imposition of church services in English; the second, led by a tradesman called Robert Kett , mainly from the encroachment of landlords on common grazing ground. A complex aspect of the social unrest was that the protestors believed they were acting legitimately against enclosing landlords with
8272-539: Was in attendance on the king, engaged in the struggle for predominance which was to determine the complexion of the government during the coming minority. Personal, political and religious rivalry separated him and Baron Lisle from the Howards , and Surrey's hasty temper precipitated his own ruin and that of his father, the duke of Norfolk . They could not acquiesce in the Imperial ambassador's verdict that Hertford and Lisle were
8366-427: Was occupied during Sir Richard and Lady Wallace's lifetime by the family's housekeeper. Lady Wallace's housekeeper was Mrs Jane Buckley, a Londoner by birth. There were over thirty servants, including housemaids, kitchen maids, a lady's maid, a butler, footmen, a valet, coachmen, a groom and stable lads. Displays: East European, Turkish and Indo-Persian Arms, Armour and Works of Arts The Oriental arms and armour in
8460-486: Was released from the Tower and restored to the council in early 1550, in October 1551 he was sent to the Tower on an exaggerated charge of treason. Instead, he was executed for felony (that of seeking a change of government) on 22 January 1552 after scheming to overthrow Dudley's regime. Edward noted his uncle's death in his Chronicle : "the duke of Somerset had his head cut off upon Tower Hill between eight and nine o'clock in
8554-493: Was senior to his ally Lisle in the peerage, and was the new king's closest relative. In March 1547, he secured letters patent from King Edward granting him the almost monarchical right to appoint members to the Privy Council himself and to consult them only when he wished. In the words of historian G. R. Elton , "from that moment his autocratic system was complete". He proceeded to rule largely by proclamation , calling on
8648-415: Was taken in 1969 for the cover of their then-intended Get Back album; it was not used when the project saw release as Let It Be , but was eventually used on the retrospective albums 1962–1966 and 1967–1970 . In the early 20th century, the chemical company ICI moved into a new headquarters in the north-west corner of the square, which was designed in a modern style with classical elements. Around
8742-461: Was the townhouse of a later junior branch of the family. It was built in 1776 by George Montagu, 4th Duke of Manchester who owned and developed the surrounding estate. It dominates the north side of the Square, where it occupies an island site, and was originally named "Manchester House". After being used as the Spanish Embassy 1791–1795 (evidenced by "Spanish Place" the street to the east of the building)
8836-473: Was used to display the collection of paintings by Canaletto. Displays: Medieval and Renaissance Works of Art The Smoking Room exhibits paintings and works of art from the Medieval and Renaissance periods, including the greater part of Sir Richard Wallace's collection of Italian Renaissance maiolica. Sir Richard Wallace would have invited his male guests to the Smoking Room after dinner, to discuss affairs of
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