Seymour-Conway, 3rd marquess of Hertford, Francis Charles
British, 1777 - 1842
Hertford, Francis Seymour-Conway, 3rd marquess of
Biography
Francis Seymour-Conway was born March 11, 1777, and succeeded his father as Marquess of Hertford in 1822, when he was also appointed a Knight of the Garter. He served as Warden of the Stannaries [tin mines/works], Recorder of the Coventry and Bodmin, and Chief Steward and Vice-Administrator of the Duchy of Cornwall. He married Maria, daughter of the Marchioness Fagnani in 1798; the couple had three children: Richard (who later became the 4th Marquess), Henry, and Frances Maria. Around 1825, Seymour-Conway commissioned Sir Thomas Lawrence to paint his portrait (now in the NGA's collection, 1968.6.2). As Lord Yarmouth (his courtesy title) he was vice chamberlain to his intimate friend the Prince Regent and the latter's principal adviser on the purchase of works of art. A distinguished connoisseur principally interested in Dutch painting, he built up a superb collection of his own which, vastly augmented by the voracious collecting in Paris of the 4th Marquess and his constant companion, his own natural son, Richard Wallace, was destined to become the nucleus of the Wallace Collection. Lord Hertford was the original upon whom Thackeray modeled the character of the Marquis of Steyne in Vanity Fair and Disraeli Lord Monmouth in Coningsby. He died 1 March 1842.