Wallace Collection of the wealthiest families in Europe. They owned large properties in England, Wales and Ireland, and increased their wealth through successful marriages. Politically of lesser importance, the 3rd and 4th Marquess and Sir Richard Wallace became leading art collectors of their time. The Wallace Collection, comprising about 5,500 works of art, was bequeathed to the British nation by Lady Wallace in 1897. The state then decided to buy Hertford House to display the collection and it was opened as a museum in 1900. As a museum the Wallace Collection's main strength is perhaps its extraordinary array of 18th-century French art:
Marquess of Waterford of Ireland (created by writ ca. 1650). Lord Tyrone was succeeded by his fourth but eldest surviving son, the second Earl, who also inherited the title Baron La Poer from his mother in 1769. In 1786 he was created Baron Tyrone, of Haverfordwest in the County of Pembroke, in the Peerage of Great Britain. Three years later he was made Marquess of Waterford in the Peerage of Ireland. The titles descended in the direct line until the death of his grandson, the third Marquess, in 1859. The late Marquess was succeeded by his younger brother, the fourth Marquess. the titles