William Drake (1723–1796)

He matriculated at Brasenose College, Oxford on 2 October 1739 aged 16 and was created DCL on 12 April 1749.

[2] Between 1758 and 1768 he rebuilt the house at Shardeloes in the Palladian style, of stuccoed brick.

The architect and builder was Stiff Leadbetter and designs for interior decorations were provided by Robert Adam.

His eldest son William was MP for Amersham with him from 1768, but predeceased him in 1795.

[4] Shardeloes passed to his second son, Thomas Drake Tyrwhitt-Drake.