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 Exeter younger brother of the third Baron. Lord John Joicey-Cecil, fourth son of the third Marquess, was Conservative Member of Parliament for Stamford. The marquessate of Exeter is the senior marquessate in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The Marquesses also hold the title of hereditary Grand Almoner and Lord Paramount of Peterborough. The ancestral home of the Marquesses of Exeter is Burghley House, near Stamford, Lincolnshire. It is now run by a trust founded by the family. Marquess of Exeter Marquess of Exeter is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in