Francis Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater

Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater, (11 November 1756 – 11 February 1829), known as Francis Egerton until 1823, was a British eccentric from the Egerton family and supporter of natural theology.

Bridgewater was a Church of England clergyman who held the rectories of Myddle (1781) and Whitchurch (1797) in Shropshire, but the duties were performed by a proxy. He succeeded his brother John in the earldom in 1823, and spent the latter part of his life in Paris. He was a fair scholar, and a zealous naturalist and antiquarian. When he died in February 1829 the earldom became extinct.

Early life Born in London in 1756, Bridgewater was the younger son of John Egerton, Bishop of Durham and Anne Sophia Grey. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford where he gained his Bachelor of Arts in 1776, and became a fellow of All Souls in 1780, and Fellow of the Royal Society in 1781. He inherited his title and a large fortune in 1823 from his brother, the 7th Earl.

"Provided also, and I declare my will to be, that it shall happen that the said John Hume, Lord Viscount Alford shall not acquire the title and dignity of the Duke Marquis Bridgewater, to him or the heirs male of his body, with the immediate limitation over of such title and dignity to the said Charles Henry Cust and the heirs male of his body, or to the heirs male of his body if he shall be dead leaving issue male, and also, that the said Charles Henry Cust shall not acquire the title and dignity of Duke or of Bridgewater, to him and the heirs male of his body, then such case the use and estate hereinbefore directed be limited to the heirs male of the body of the said Charles Henry Cust shall cease and be absolutely void."

Alford assumed the name and arms of Egerton, but died in January 1851, aged only 38. His eldest son, John Brownlow Cust, just shy of 9 years old, adopted the Egerton surname as his father's heir. Charles Cust then adopted the surname Egerton and in February 1851 sued his nephew for the Bridgewater estates, as his brother had failed to meet the conditions of Bridgewater's will. More than 3,800 manuscripts have been purchased using the Egerton fund.

He also left £8,000 at the disposal of the president of the Royal Society, to be paid to the author or authors who might be selected to write and publish 1,000 copies of a treatise On the Power, Wisdom and Goodness of God, as manifested in the Creation. The resulting eight Bridgewater Treatises first appeared between 1833 and 1836, and afterwards in Bohn's Scientific Library.