A founding member of The Yacht Club.
The wonderfully named Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 1st Duke of Buckingham (1776-1839),was the heir to Stowe. He studied at Brasenose College, Oxford, and sat as MP for Buckinghamshire from 1797 to 1813.
Powerfully connected and arrogant, he was much disliked. 'His contribution to public life,' according to the Dictionary of National Biography, 'was to give a sustained display of greed and ambition'. He did not serve long in any of the posts procured for him by powerful relations, and his dukedom was secured from the Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool in 1822 in exchange for political favours.
In 1796 he married Lady Anna Eliza, the only surviving daughter of the last Duke of Chandos. Despite an ample income from his land (some 57,000 acres), Buckingham's extravagance led him to sell off parts of the Chandos estate, in contravention of his marriage settlement. His able and determined wife forced a resettlement in 1828, forbidding any further sales to pay off debts.
She moved to Avington in Hampshire, while he sailed to Italy in his newly built yacht, Anna Eliza,with the intention of saving money. The extravagance continued abroad, however, with a two-year art-buying spree. Financial problems were compounded by his son, who went on to waste the remainder of the family fortune. The judgement of Mrs Arbuthnot is typical, and pitiful: 'The Duke of Buckingham is odious and unpopular to the last degree... utterly without talent or the respect of one human being.'
His brother George Nugent, also a founding member, was a more engaging character.