Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Baron Scarsdale

Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Baron Scarsdale (1726 – 5 December 1804) was an English Tory politician and peer.

Curzon was the son of Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 4th Baronet of Kedleston, and his wife Mary Assheton, daughter of Sir Ralph Assheton, Bt of Middleton Lancashire.^[1]

Curzon was elected as Member of Parliament for Clitheroe in 1747 which he held until 1754 when he was elected for his father's former constituency Derbyshire. In 1761 he was created Lord Scarsdale and later served as Chairman of Committees in the House of Lords.

Kedleston Hall

Curzon started work on the development of Kedleston Hall before he inherited. He employed the landscape gardener William Emes to replace the formal water features with natural lakes. In 1759 he commissioned the rebuilding of the house, designed in Palladian style by the architects James Paine and Matthew Brettingham. Robert Adam was designing some garden temples to enhance the landscape of the park. Curzon was so impressed with Adam's designs, that Adam was quickly put in charge of the construction of the new mansion

Curzon married, in 1751, Lady Carolina Colyear, daughter of Charles, Earl of Portmore. His eldest son Nathaniel succeeded to the title and became Lord Scarsdale.

Kedleston Hall

The Hall is located 4 miles north-west of Derby, and is now open to the public, as one of the properties owned by the National Trust. One wing of Kedleston is still occupied by the Curzon family.

Curzon intended Kedleston Hall to outshine the house of his Whig neighbour the Cavendishes at Chatsworth. He employed several architects and in December 1758 he met Robert Adam, who he would employ in his reconstruction of Kedleston. Curzon's cabinet-maker of choice was John Linnell. Linnell created the arguably the most magnificent sofas of the Georgian era for the Drawing Room at Kedleston. These sofas have sea nymphs, mermen and mermaids whose tails entwine as their armrests.^[2]

References

External links

• National trust - Kedleston Hall