John Campbell, 1st Baron Cawdor
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The Right Honourable The Lord Cawdor FRS |
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Portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds
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| Member of Parliament for Cardigan Boroughs | |
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In office 1780–1796 |
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| Member of Parliament for Nairnshire | |
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In office 1777–1780 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 1753 Great Britain |
| Died | 1 June 1821 (aged 68) Bath, Somerset, UK |
| Resting place | Bath Abbey |
| Political party | Pittite (from 1783) |
| Other political affiliations |
Whig (until 1783) |
| Spouse(s) | Isabella Caroline Howard |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Eton College |
| Alma mater | Clare College, Cambridge |
John Campbell, 1st Baron Cawdor, FRS (ca. 1753 – 1 June 1821), was a British politician, army officer and art-collector.
John Campbell was born ca. 1753, the son of Pryse Campbell of Stackpole Court, Pembrokeshire, and Sarah (née Bacon). His siblings were Sarah, George, Alexander and Charles Campbell. He was sent to board at Eton College, Berkshire (1763–67). Afterwards he studied at Cambridge University (Clare College) (1772).
His father died in 1768, so when his grandfather died in 1777 John inherited Stackpole Court and his grandfather's estates in Pembrokeshire and Nairn, and a mineral-producing estate in Cardiganshire; these lands and mines made him a rich man. From 1777 to 1780 he was Member of Parliament for Nairnshire. He became Member of Parliament for Cardigan Boroughs from a by-election in June 1780 until he stood down at the British general election, 1796. From 1780 he was Governor of Milford Haven.
Between 1783 and 1788 Campbell visited Italy and Sicily, where he bought antiquities from Fr. John Thorpe, Henry Tresham, James Durno and Thomas Jenkins, commissioned paintings of archaeological sites in Naples and Sicily from Xavier della Gatta, Tito Lusieri, Henry Tresham and Louis Ducros, and bought sculptures from the young Canova, but he never received them. In 1788 Campbell bought from Giovanni Volpato the celebrated Lante Vase [now at Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire]. He also began a collection of 'Etruscan' (i.e. ancient Greek) vases from Nola and other southern Italian sites, and had further examples sent to him after his return to Britain, including the 'Campbell Crater' excavated at Lecce in 1790. He also continued to acquire architectural and sculptural fragments and casts. Campbell established a Museum in his house in Oxford Street, London, which had an art-historical rather than decorative intention, and was hailed by the sculptor, John Flaxman, as 'excellent news for the arts'.
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