On 29 September 1846, a man titled Lord Northwick signed into our Visitors’ Book at Chatsworth. This must have been John Rushout, 2nd Baron Northwick (1770-1859).
Baron Northwick inherited his title in 1800. From 1790 onwards he had travelled in Europe. There he befriended Horatio Nelson, Edward Gibbon, Sir William and Lady Emma Hamilton, and also the sculptor Antonio Canova – whose work features significantly at Chatsworth.

While Northwick was living at the Bay of Palermo, a warship called HMS Vanguard became stranded nearby. She had just been involved in the Battle of the Nile (1798). This was a crucial battle between the Royal Navy under Horatio Nelson and a French fleet under Napoleon. The British won and so prevented Napoleon from invading India. As a result of the stranding, Baron Northwick became the first person in Europe to hear that Nelson had triumphed. He heard it from the Admiral’s own lips.

Like the 6th Duke of Devonshire, Baron Northwick developed a large collection of art and antiquities. In 1832 he built a gallery for his collection at Northwick Park, Gloucestershire, and there is a parallel here with the 6th Duke of Devonshire’s new Sculpture Gallery at Chatsworth. Northwick’s collection outgrew even Northwick Park, so he bought Thirlestane House in Cheltenham and moved his collection into it. Northwick died childless and intestate, whereupon his collection was sold off. Items from it are now in major collections around the world. Northwick’s title went to a nephew of his. When said nephew died childless, the title of Baron Northwick became extinct.

Visitor book entry from Baron Northwick, 1846.