Francis Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater

[1] Bridgewater was a Church of England clergyman who held the rectories of Myddle (1781) and Whitchurch (1797) in Shropshire, but the duties were performed by a proxy.

[2] Born in London in 1756, Bridgewater was the younger son of John Egerton, Bishop of Durham and Anne Sophia Grey.

According to the Parisian police, Bridgewater kept dogs and cats in his house which he dressed as ladies and gentlemen and would take them with him in his carriage.

[6] A Freemason who had been Initiated in France, from 10 August 1786 until 1800 Bridgewater was Provincial Grand Master for Shropshire and North Wales, adding Staffordshire, Flint, Denbighshire and Montgomeryshire to his responsibilities in 1791.

For all that this was an extensive area, the duties associated with the position at that time were light, and in many cases (up to 1795) left in the hands of his Deputy/Provincial Grand Secretary Charles Shirreff.

[2] He left the majority of his estates, including Ashridge, to John Hume Cust, Viscount Alford, heir to Earl Brownlow.

His eldest son, John Brownlow Cust, just shy of 9 years old, adopted the Egerton surname as his father's heir.

They successfully argued that such a demand could lead to heirs acquiring peerages purely for financial gain, and thus the court allowing Bridgewater's request to stand went against the public good.

In those, as well political matters, a peer was bound to act free from any improper motive——least of all, ought there to be any motive of a pecuniary character to influence his movements in the discharge of the duties attached to his position and station.

[7] Bridgewater bequeathed to the British Museum the valuable Egerton Manuscripts,[2] consisting of 67 volumes and 96 charters dealing with the literature of France and Italy.