Francis Noel Clarke Mundy

Francis Noel Clarke Mundy (15 August 1739 – 23 October 1815) was an English poet, landowner, magistrate and, in 1772, Sheriff of Derbyshire.

[citation needed] He was a direct descendant of Edward III via his Noel ancestors, who could trace their ancestry back to Philippa, Countess of Ulster.

As such he was also a descendant of the Plantagenet Kings preceding Edward III, as well as William the Conqueror, the Dukes of Normandy and of Alfred the Great.

Each of the portraits subjects were dressed in the attire of the Markeaton Hunt, which consisted of yellow breeches and a blue coat over a scarlet waistcoat.

[1]Mundy died in 1815 and the magistrates of Derbyshire commissioned a bust by Francis Chantrey which was placed in the county hall in memory of his long and eminent services as justice of the peace and chairman of the quarter sessions.

[4] The bust bears the following inscription: "This Effigy is consecrated by his Countrymen to the Memory of Francis Noel Clarke Mundy who having modestly declined their unanimous Offer to elect him their Representative in Parliament continued to preside on the Bench of Justices in this Hall during a period of nearly 50 years with a clearness of judgment and an integrity of decision well worthy of being gratefully and honourably recorded This excellent Man admired for the elegance of his literary Productions beloved for the gentleness of his Manners revered for his public and private Virtues lived happily at his paternal seat at Markeaton to the age of 76 years May his Example excite Emulation"[5] In addition, there is an engraving of him with his grandson, William Mundy, by Charles Turner (after R. R. Reinagle).

[11] Needwood Forest was well regarded in its time, and is an example of the provincial verse that was starting to become a feature of late 18th century English literature.

[12] It was printed privately (500 copies as presents to his friends) and is appended with a number of commendatory verses, by fellow Lichfield poets Sir Brooke Boothby, Erasmus Darwin and Anna Seward (attributed only by their initials).

Mundy's bust by Francis Legatt Chantrey .
Mundy with his grandson William Mundy . Painting by Ramsay Richard Reinagle .