What can I say about the 1803 that hasn't already been said? very little indeed; this is because my aim throughout the project is to present what already exists, in its original form, and, generally, to keep my opinions to myself.

 

The images on this page are of the volumes in my own library (a bit of a grand name for two bookcases).  I do prefer my books to have bookplates and or annotations because it brings the book to life, and I do like researching the previous owner or annotator - that's what I do for fun!​

 

This set of the 1803 edition of The Works of Thomas Chatterton, bears the bookplates of the Hon. Dudley Francis Fortescue, who was a member of the family who were the ancestors of Julian Fellowes of Downton Abbey fame.

 

The following is from Wikipedia: The Honourable Dudley Francis Fortescue (4 August 1820 – 2 March 1909) was a British Liberal politician.  He was the third son of Hugh Fortescue, 2nd Earl Fortescue, and Lady Susan, daughter of Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby. His paternal grandmother Hester Grenville was the daughter of George Grenville. Hugh Fortescue, 3rd Earl Fortescue and the Hon. John Fortescue were his elder brothers. He was educated at the University of Oxford.

​

Political career.

Fortescue was elected Member of Parliament for Andover in 1857, a seat he held until 1874. He was also a Commissioner in Lunacy, a Deputy Lieutenant of County Waterford and Devon and served as High Sheriff of County Waterford in 1870.

​

The Commissioners in Lunacy or Lunacy Commission were a public body established by the Lunacy Act 1845 to oversee asylums and the welfare of mentally ill people in England and Wales. It succeeded the Metropolitan Commissioners in Lunacy.

​

Fortescue married his first cousin Lady Camilla Eleanor, daughter of Newton Fellowes, 4th Earl of Portsmouth and Lady Catherine Fortescue, in 1852. There were no children from the marriage. He died in March 1909, aged 88. His wife survived him by eleven years and died in August 1920.​​