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 Bath He was a Captain in the Royal Navy and also sat as Member of Parliament for Weobly. His son, the fourth Marquess, succeeded at age six; he was Chairman of the Wiltshire County Council and Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the fifth Marquess. He was a Conservative politician and served briefly as Under-Secretary of State for India in 1895. His second but eldest surviving son, the sixth Marquess, represented Frome in the House of Commons as a Conservative. The titles are currently held by the latter's second but eldest surviving son, the seventh Marquess, who