Francis Bourgeois

When in Warsaw he met bishop Michal Jerzy Poniatowski, primate of Poland and brother of the Polish king, Stanislaw II.

For this Bourgeois was presented with the Polish medal "Merentibus", for which George III allowed him to use the title of 'Sir' in Britain.

While in London Poniatowski asked Noel and Margaret Desenfans and Bourgeois to assemble a royal collection for Poland.

During the next five years, Bourgeois joined Margaret and Noel Desenfans touring Europe and buying pictures and continued his own painting in 1794 he was appointed landscape-painter to George III.

In 1795 Desenfans was appointed Polish consul general in London, but a few months later Stanislaw was forced to abdicate and the dealers were left with the collection.

Their attempts to sell it to Alexander I of Russia or the British Government proved unsuccessful and in 1799 Desenfans published a Plan[4] for establishing some national galleries in Britain, of which the collection might form a basis, and in 1802 he exhibited the collection in London with a sale Catalogue.

His death was indirectly caused by a horse riding accident and came about when he refused to have his leg amputated and dismissed his physician.