Washington Shirley, 5th Earl Ferrers
(c. 1745)
- Medium
- marble
- Measurements
- (a-c) 165.6 × 48.8 × 33.0 cm (overall)
- Accession Number
- 131.a-c-D5
- Department
- International Sculpture
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1960 - Gallery location
- 17th to 18th Century European Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International - About this work
-
The Shirley family was elevated to the Peerage of Great Britain in 1711 and given the title Earls Ferrers. The three busts seen here depict the 4th and 5th Earls and their father the Hon. Laurence Shirley who as the fourth son of the 1st Earl did not inherit the title, which, however, passed to his first son Laurence at the passing of his elder brother. The 4th Earl Ferrers gained notoriety when he was convicted of murder and hanged in 1760, the last British Peer of the Realm to be executed for a capital crime.