The crest and coronet are those of Augustus, 3rd Duke of Grafton, born in 1735, the son of Augustus, 3rd son of the second Duke and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Colonel William Cosby, Governor of New York. His political career has in recent years been the subject of a reappraisal since The Spectator wrote of him: "A man of weak will, admirable purpose, and common intellect ... it is true that the country looked to him for salvation, but it is also true that it looked to him in vain ... for politics he had not the slightest talent" (November 12, 1898). He was First Lord of the Treasury (Prime Minister) from 1767 till 1770 and the letters of "Junius", the troubles with the American Colonies, the expulsion of the notorious Wilkes from the House of Commons, all make his administration notable. But he was, as Lord Chatham declared, "unequal to the government of a great nation" and his pursuit of pleasure caused Horace Walpole to sneer that the Duke felt "the world should be postponed for a whore and a horse race."
These candlesticks evidently form part of the plate furnished for the Duke's marriage in 1756 to Anne, aged 18, the daughter of Henry, Lord Ravensworth. They separated in 1765 - "a violent itch for play in his first Duchess gave rise to their bickerings," according to The Complete English Peerage of 1775, and they were divorced in 1769. The Duke married as his second wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Richard Wrottesley, 7th Bt. a short time later. He died, aged 75, in 1811.