William Noel-Hill, 3rd Baron Berwick of Attingham (1772-1842)
John Miers (Leeds 1758 – London 1821)
Category
Art / Silhouettes
Date
1800
Materials
Ivory
Measurements
80 x 60 mm
Order this imageCollection
Attingham Park, Shropshire
NT 607961
Summary
Silhouette, Ivory, William Noel-Hill, 3rd Baron Berwick of Attingham (1773 -1842) by John Miers (Leeds 1758 – London 1821). 1800. Oval. Head and shoulder silhouette of a man in profile to the right, with a Roman nose, wearing a long wig tied with a ribbon and a bow to his neck. William Noel-Hill, 3rd Baron Berwick of Attingham was born on 21 October 1772. He was the son of Noel Hill, 1st Baron Berwick of Attingham and Anna Vernon. He was baptised at Atcham, Shropshire, England. He died on 4 August 1842 at age 69 at Redrice, Andover, Hampshire, England, unmarried, without legitimate issue. He was buried on 15 August 1842 at Atcham, Shropshire, England. He died intestate and his estate was administered in June 1843. He was given the name of William Hill at birth. He was educated in January 1783 at Rugby School, Rugby, Warwickshire, England. He graduated from Jesus College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, in 1793 with a Master of Arts (M.A.). He was MP (Tory) for Shrewsbury between 1796 and 1812. He held the office of Envoy to Ratisbon between 1805 and 1807. He held the office of Envoy to Turin between 1807 and 1824. His advancement may have been due to the influence of Lady Hester Stanhope to whom at one period he was engaged. His character is described by Harold Acton in The Last Bourbons of Naples, 1961, pp.6 ff. M.P. (Tory) for Marlborough between 1814 and 1818.He held the office of Envoy to Naples between 1824 and 1830.On 19 March 1824 his name was legally changed to William Noel-Hill by Royal Licence.He was invested as a Privy Counsellor (P.C.) on 7 April 1824.3 He succeeded to the title of 3rd Baron Berwick of Attingham, co. Shropshire [G.B., 1784] on 3 November 1832. William took a lease of Attingham, which in due course he inherited along with the title. He brought to Attingham the collections of furniture and pictures, ceramics and silver that he had accumulated during some 25 years as a diplomat in Italy. His career had begun in 1807, when he was appointed minister at Ratisbon, a position which he never took up owing to Napoleon’s campaign. His next appointment to the Court of Savoy was similarly disrupted by Napoleon and he first joined the Court at Cagliari in Sardinia. He described his diplomatic role as being largely concerned with ‘losses of Bonnets & Gowns, cruel Custom House officers or want of Passports’, but he was a natural bon viveur and enjoyed the role of entertaining some of the English travellers in Italy. Among these was Lord Byron, en route for Greece, who described him as ‘the only one of the diplomatists whom I ever knew who really is Excellent’. In 1824 William was transferred to Naples as Minister Plenipotentiary to the court of the Two Sicilies. Finding his predecessor’s accommodation unsuited to his own lavish lifestyle, he leased the Palazzo Belvedere, which had been furnished by Caroline Murat, the former Queen of Naples, in the latest French fashion. The furniture and Parisian ceramics and ormolu that Lord Berwick acquired with the Palazzo Belvedere now form a significant part of the furnishing and character of Attingham, along with the pictures which he had collected throughout his time in Italy. Although he had two children, the 3rd Lord Berwick never married so that on his death in 1842 the title passed to the third brother, Richard…”
Provenance
Attingham collection; bequeathed to the National Trust with the estate, house and contents of Attingham by Thomas Henry Noel-Hill, 8th Baron Berwick (1877-1947) on 15th May 1953.
Marks and inscriptions
Honble William Hill (written in black ink on original Miers label pasted on reverse)
Makers and roles
John Miers (Leeds 1758 – London 1821), artist