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Lot Essay
The title Baron Rodney, of Rodney Stoke in the County of Somerset, was created in 1782 for Sir George Brydges Rodney, 1st Bt. (1719-1792), the celebrated Vice Admiral, having already been granted a pension of £2,000 by the House of Commons. He and his wife Jane Compton had several children, including George, his eldest son who succeeded him as 2nd Baron on his death in 1792.
George, 2nd Baron (1753-1802), who represented Northampton in Parliament, married Anne, eldest daughter of Thomas Harley (1730-1804), the fifth son of the 3rd Earl of Oxford and his wife Anne Bangham in 1781. As Thomas Harley died without a male heir his estates, most notably Berrington Hall, in Herefordshire, designed by Henry Holland, passed to his eldest daughter and thus into the Rodney family. It would seem likely that the 2nd Baron bought this basket and ordered that it, and the two companions which originally accompanied it, be engraved with his arms for his use at Berrington. It, along with the Lords Rodney, remained at Berrington until 1901 when the house was sold to Frederick Crawley, later 1st Baron Crawley who in turn gave it to the National Trust in 1957.
George, 2nd Baron (1753-1802), who represented Northampton in Parliament, married Anne, eldest daughter of Thomas Harley (1730-1804), the fifth son of the 3rd Earl of Oxford and his wife Anne Bangham in 1781. As Thomas Harley died without a male heir his estates, most notably Berrington Hall, in Herefordshire, designed by Henry Holland, passed to his eldest daughter and thus into the Rodney family. It would seem likely that the 2nd Baron bought this basket and ordered that it, and the two companions which originally accompanied it, be engraved with his arms for his use at Berrington. It, along with the Lords Rodney, remained at Berrington until 1901 when the house was sold to Frederick Crawley, later 1st Baron Crawley who in turn gave it to the National Trust in 1957.