Peter Du Cane (22 April 1713 – 28 March 1803), a descendant of

Jean Du Quesne, the elder Jean du Quesne, the elder also known as Jan or Jehan (December 1624) was a particularly well-documented Huguenot refugee from Flanders reported to be from Ath in Hainaut, the son of Jean Du Quesne, native of Valenciennes. David Carnegie Andrew A ...

and son of Richard Du Cane, M.P., was a leading 18th century British merchant and businessman . Du Cane amassed great wealth in land and fund holdings, as well as in

marine insurance Marine insurance covers the physical loss or damage of ships, cargo, terminals, and any transport by which the property is transferred, acquired, or held between the points of origin and the final destination. Cargo insurance is the sub-branch o ...

. He was

High Sheriff of Essex The High Sheriff of Essex was an ancient sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the invasion of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the ...

in 1744-5, a Director of the Bank of England, a Director of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sout ...

from 1750 to 1753, Vice-President of the London Infirmary, and patron of the vicarage at

Coggeshall Coggeshall ( or ) is a small town in Essex, England, between Colchester and Braintree on the Roman road Stane Street and the River Blackwater. It has almost 300 listed buildings and a market whose charter was granted in 1256 by Henry III. ...

where he was lord of the manor. In 1745, he established the family at

Braxted Park Braxted Park, formerly called Braxted Lodge, is a country house in the Queen Anne style set in a landscaped 2,000 acre park near the village of Great Braxted, Essex. In the Domesday Book of 1086, Eudo Dapifer is shown as owner of the manor. All Sa ...

in Essex. In 1735, Du Cane married a wealthy heiress, Mary Norris, the only daughter of Henry Norris (1677–1762) of Hackney, another London businessman and Justice of the Peace with extensive trading interests in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

. Du Cane's portrait, painted while travelling in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

by Austrian artist

Anton von maron Anton may refer to: People *Anton (given name), including a list of people with the given name *Anton (surname) Places *Anton Municipality, Bulgaria **Anton, Sofia Province, a village *Antón District, Panama **Antón, a town and capital of th ...

(1733–1808) hangs in the

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BM&AG) is a museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England. It has a collection of international importance covering fine art, ceramics, metalwork, jewellery, natural history, archaeology, ethnography, ...

. In another painting by

Arthur Devis (1712–1787) Arthur Devis (19 February 1712 – 25 July 1787) was an English artist, half-brother of the painter Anthony Devis (1729–1816), and father of painters Thomas Anthony Devis (1757–1810) and Arthur William Devis (1762–1822). His place in t ...

known as the 'Du Cane Triptych' (1747), the Du Cane family are depicted in the grounds of their house at

. The house itself appears in the middle distance of the central panel depicting the three Du Cane children.

References

1713 births 1803 deaths Directors of the British East India Company High Sheriffs of Essex 18th-century English people English businesspeople {{UK-business-bio-stub