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Lot Essay
William Townley Mitford (1817-1889)
The Mitfords of Pitshill are a scion of the ancient Northumbrian line of Mitfords whose pedigree reaches back to Sir John Mitford in the early 15th century. Burke's Landed Gentry points to William Mitford (1699-1777) as the first to come to Sussex, residing in Petworth. It was he who bought the Pitshill estate in 1760. His son, also William employed Sir John Soane to remodel the house but plans were never agreed on and although the building was influenced by Soane's work it was completed by a builder employed by Mitford. William Townley Mitford was the grandson of the re-modeller of Pitshill and indeed he was later to conduct works of alteration. These took place around the time that he commissioned the drawings and the wine-coolers themselves.
William Townley Mitford was the son of Charles Mitford (d.1831) and his wife Margaret, the daughter of Richard Greaves Townley. William received a conventional education, attending Eton College and then Oriel College, Oxford. He later became M.P. for Midhurst between 1859 and 1874 and was a member of both the Carlton Club and Arthur's Club. When in London he resided at 12 Cavendish Square. Although he played a large part in the life of Sussex, not only representing the county in parliament but also serving as High Sheriff in 1847, he found time to travel extensively on the continent. Some of his detailed journals survive as part of the family papers deposited in the West Sussex Public Record Office. In the years prior to the acquisition of the wine-coolers Mitford's journals show that he visited France in 1833 and took as extended tour of Europe in 1841 taking in Holland, Germany and Austria, and further afield including Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece and the Ionian Islands returning via Malta, Sicily and Italy. His passion for travel is evident as the next year he toured once more passing through France, Belgium and Germany and then Sweden and Russia.
The Mitfords of Pitshill are a scion of the ancient Northumbrian line of Mitfords whose pedigree reaches back to Sir John Mitford in the early 15th century. Burke's Landed Gentry points to William Mitford (1699-1777) as the first to come to Sussex, residing in Petworth. It was he who bought the Pitshill estate in 1760. His son, also William employed Sir John Soane to remodel the house but plans were never agreed on and although the building was influenced by Soane's work it was completed by a builder employed by Mitford. William Townley Mitford was the grandson of the re-modeller of Pitshill and indeed he was later to conduct works of alteration. These took place around the time that he commissioned the drawings and the wine-coolers themselves.
William Townley Mitford was the son of Charles Mitford (d.1831) and his wife Margaret, the daughter of Richard Greaves Townley. William received a conventional education, attending Eton College and then Oriel College, Oxford. He later became M.P. for Midhurst between 1859 and 1874 and was a member of both the Carlton Club and Arthur's Club. When in London he resided at 12 Cavendish Square. Although he played a large part in the life of Sussex, not only representing the county in parliament but also serving as High Sheriff in 1847, he found time to travel extensively on the continent. Some of his detailed journals survive as part of the family papers deposited in the West Sussex Public Record Office. In the years prior to the acquisition of the wine-coolers Mitford's journals show that he visited France in 1833 and took as extended tour of Europe in 1841 taking in Holland, Germany and Austria, and further afield including Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece and the Ionian Islands returning via Malta, Sicily and Italy. His passion for travel is evident as the next year he toured once more passing through France, Belgium and Germany and then Sweden and Russia.