Samuel Egerton Brydges

Sir Samuel Brydges, Bt
Born 30 November 1762
Wootton, Kent
Died 8 September 1837 (aged 74)
Geneva
Occupation bibliographer, genealogist, Member of Parliament for Maidstone from 1812 to 1818
Nationality English

Sir Samuel Egerton Brydges, 1st Baronet (30 November 1762 8 September 1837) was an English bibliographer and genealogist. He was also Member of Parliament for Maidstone from 1812 to 1818.

Educated at Maidstone Grammar School and The King's School, Canterbury, Brydges was admitted to Queens' College, Cambridge in 1780, though he did not take a degree.[1] He was called to the bar from the Middle Temple in 1787.[1] He wrote some novels and poems, now forgotten, but rendered valuable service by his bibliographical publications, Censura Literaria, Titles and Opinions of Old English Books (10 vols. 1805-9), his editions of Edward Phillips's Theatrum Poetarum Anglicanorum (1800) Arthur Collins's Peerage of England (1812), and of many rare Elizabethan authors. He was a founder member of the Roxburghe Club, the publishing club of wealthy bibliophiles.

In 1789, the Chandos barony became dormant. Egerton Brydges attempted to claim the title, initially on behalf on his older brother Revd Edward Tymewell Brydges and then on his own behalf. The litigation lasted from 1790 to 1803 before the claims were rejected, but he continued to style himself per legem terrae Baron Chandos of Sudeley. It seems likely that not only was the claim groundless but that the evidence was forged.

He was made a baronet in 1814. He died at Geneva.

References

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Brydges, Sir Samuel Egerton.
  1. 1.0 1.1 "Bridges or Brydges, Samuel Egerton (BRGS780SE)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.

External links

Parliament of England
Preceded by
George Longman
George Simson
Member of Parliament for Maidstone
1812 1818
With: George Simson
Succeeded by
George Longman
Abraham Wildey Robarts
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baronet
(of Denton Court)
1814 1837
Succeeded by
John William Egerton-Barrett-Brydges