Mid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue

John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont (1711-1770), Statesman

Politician; sty. Viscount Perceval 1733-49, succeeded as 2nd Earl of Egmont [I] 1749; created Baron Lovel and Holland [GB] 1762; MP 1731-62; first lord of the Admiralty 1763-66; FRS 1764; married 1) 1737 Catherine (1719-52), daughter of 5th Earl of Salisbury; 2) 1756 Catherine (1731-84), daughter of 6th Earl of Northampton (created Baroness Arden 1770).

‘He is very bold and resolved, master of vast knowledge, and speaks at once with fire and method’ (Horace Walpole, 1750).

‘... when his ambition and lust of parliament were out of the question, he was humane, friendly, and as good-humoured as it was possible for a man to be who was never known to laugh; he was once indeed seen to smile, and that was at chess’ (Horace Walpole, Memoirs of George II).


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, National Portrait Gallery, 2004, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.