imported>Mauls at 23:10, 27 January 2025

2025-01-27T23:10:57Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2013}}
'''Joseph Neeld''' (1789–1856) was [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] of the United Kingdom for the [[rotten borough]] of [[Gatton (UK Parliament constituency)|Gatton]], [[Surrey]] from March to July 1830<ref name = Hansard>{{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/people/mr-joseph-neeld |title=Mr Joseph Neeld (Hansard) |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |access-date=2020-06-30}}</ref> and for [[Chippenham (UK Parliament constituency)|Chippenham]], [[Wiltshire]], England from September 1830 to March 1856.<ref name="stookssmith">{{cite book |last1=Stooks Smith |first1=Henry |title=The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive |date=1845 |publisher=Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. |location=London |pages=108–110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HacQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA108 |via=[[Google Books]] |access-date=18 August 2018}}</ref>

== Career ==
Neeld was one of five brothers born to Joseph Neeld (1754–1828), a solicitor<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bookplate-jvarnoso.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html|title=Ex Libris//Bookplates: December 2007|publisher=bookplate-jvarnoso.blogspot.com|accessdate=2009-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708025721/http://bookplate-jvarnoso.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html|archive-date=8 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> and Mary (née Bond) (1765–1857); the family lived in [[Hendon]], Middlesex.<ref name=notable>{{cite web
|url=http://notableneelds.com/
|title=Notable Neelds
|publisher=notableneelds.com
|accessdate=2009-03-09
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128163622/http://notableneelds.com/
|archivedate=28 January 2011
}}</ref>

He seems to have qualified as a [[barrister]] of the [[Inner Temple]]<ref>
{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lW4EAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA330
|title=The Annual Biography and Obituary – Google Book Search |year=1828 |accessdate=2009-03-09}}</ref> but it is known that he set out on a career in [[property management]]; in 1821 he took a lease on land in [[Paddington]] owned by [[Westminster Abbey]].<ref name = West>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22670 |title=Paddington – Manors and Other Estates | work=British History Online |publisher=[[Institute of Historical Research]] and the [[History of Parliament Trust]]|accessdate=2009-03-09}}</ref>

In 1828, he inherited the substantial sum of £800,000 from his famous great-uncle, [[Philip Rundell]] the [[silversmith]], described by [[James Losh]] as a "tyrannical miser". The will stated this was a reward to Neeld for giving up a "lucrative profession" to take care of Rundell for thirteen years.<ref>{{cite book | title = The Annual Biography and obituary for the Year 1828| last = Unknown | year = 1828|publisher = Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green| location = [[London]] | page = 20 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=A9sKAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA329 }}</ref> With this bequest, Neeld bought the manor of [[Grittleton]], about six miles northwest of [[Chippenham]].<ref name=manor>{{cite web|url=http://www.grittletonhouse.co.uk/history.php |title=Grittleton House – History |publisher=grittletonhouse.co.uk |accessdate=2009-03-09 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312045913/http://www.grittletonhouse.co.uk/history.php |archivedate=12 March 2009 }}</ref> He spent from 8 March to 30 July 1830 as [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Gatton (UK Parliament constituency)|Gatton]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/constituencies/gatton-surrey |title=Gatton (Surrey) 1660–1832|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |access-date=2009-03-09}}</ref> a [[rotten borough]] with six houses and one elector but returning two Members,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42955 |title=Parishes – Gatton |publisher=British History Online |accessdate=2010-10-14 }}</ref> which was abolished by the [[Reform Act 1832]]. Later in 1830 he was elected to represent [[Chippenham (UK Parliament constituency)|Chippenham]].

Also in 1828, the year that he bought Grittleton, Neeld also bought [[Kelston Park]], a 1760s country house and estate just west of [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]]. He made alterations to the house and outbuildings, but in 1844 the estate was transferred to his relatives the Inigo-Jones family.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1000536|desc=Kelston Park (Park and Garden)|access-date=17 June 2021}}</ref>

He married Lady Caroline Ashley Cooper, daughter of the 6th [[Earl of Shaftesbury]] on 1 January 1831; however, the marriage did not last for long.<ref name="notable" /> This led to a series of legal disputes which ended with Lady Caroline failing to achieve a divorce, but being granted a legal separation.<ref name="notable" /> It had been revealed that Neeld already had a daughter by a French woman, and thus at his death Neeld had no legitimate heirs.<ref name="notable" />

From 1832, Neeld began the reconstruction of [[Grittleton House]] in [[Gothic Revival architecture|Victorian Gothic revival]] style, and set about furnishing it with an extensive collection of antiques and paintings.<ref name = manor/> He was also a [[philanthropist]], donating about £12,000 for the construction of [[Chippenham Town Hall]],<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1268113|desc=New Town Hall and Neeld Hall|access-date=21 January 2017|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> and building houses in Grittleton for his tenants.<ref name = notable/> Elsewhere in Grittleton parish, at [[Leigh Delamere]] he commissioned the rebuilding of [[St Margaret of Antioch Church, Leigh Delamere|St Margaret of Antioch Church]] (1846)<ref>{{cite web|title=St Margaret of Antioch, Leigh Delamere|url=https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/visit/church-listing/st-margaret-leigh-delamere.html|publisher=[[Churches Conservation Trust]]|accessdate=17 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{NHLE|desc=Church of St Margaret|num=1022289|accessdate=7 October 2010|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> and a row of almshouses (1848).<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1022291|desc=The Almshouses|accessdate=21 January 2017|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

His Parliamentary career was less successful; despite being a Member of Parliament for nearly 24 years, he spoke not once in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]].<ref name = Hansard/>

== Death and legacy==
Neeld died on 24 March 1856,<ref name = Hansard/> causing a [[by-election]] in Chippenham. Leaving no legitimate heirs, he [[will (law)|willed]] his property to his brother [[John Neeld, 1st Baronet|John]] (who in 1859 was created [[Neeld baronets|1st Baronet Neeld]], of Grittleton, and was elected MP for Chippenham 1865–1868).

[[File:NeeldPlaque.jpg|thumb|right|Memorial plaque in Grittleton church]]
Joseph's name is commemorated in the Neeld Hall in [[Chippenham]], as well as a row of cottages in [[Hendon]] which was built in 1870.<ref name="notable" /> In Grittleton, his name lives on in the name of the village pub, the ''Neeld Arms'', and in the east window of the church of [[St Mary|St Mary the Virgin]], accompanied by a plaque stating the window to have been "erected and dedicated by his (18) Friends and Tenants (71)". In [[Maida Hill]], North Westminster, formerly the Borough of Paddington, there are also a ''Neeld Arms''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://idoxpa.westminster.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=NIG2LKRPJ0L00|title=Planning application 15/00428/FULL|date=March 2015|website=City of Westminster: Planning|language=en-uk|access-date=21 January 2017}}</ref> and a Grittleton Road.

Neeld's art collection was split up, some pieces now being in the [[National Portrait Gallery (London)|National Portrait Gallery]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://89.234.0.17/collections/search/portrait.php?search=as&occ=15%3BCrafts+and+Practical+Arts&lDate=&LinkID=mp00213&rNo=8&role=art|title=Portrait NPG 6365; Philip Rundell|publisher=[[National Portrait Gallery, London]]|accessdate=2009-03-09|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531135104/http://89.234.0.17/collections/search/portrait.php?search=as&occ=15%3BCrafts+and+Practical+Arts&lDate=&LinkID=mp00213&rNo=8&role=art|archivedate=31 May 2011}}</ref> and some in the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/indexplus/print/2006AV6379.html|title=''Maternal Affection'', sculpture group in marble|publisher=[[Victoria and Albert Museum]]|accessdate=2009-03-09}}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> A 1669 self-portrait in oil by [[Rembrandt]] remained at Grittleton House for some years, passed through several owners including [[Adolf Hitler]], then in 1947 was bought by the [[Mauritshuis]], The Hague, Netherlands.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Details: Rembrandt van Rijn, Self-Portrait, 1669|url=https://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/explore/the-collection/artworks/selfportrait-840/detailgegevens/|access-date=2021-06-17|website=Mauritshuis}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{cite web |title=NEELD, Joseph (1789–1856) |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/neeld-joseph-1789-1856 |website=History of Parliament Online |accessdate=3 March 2019}}
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-joseph-neeld | Joseph Neeld }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef
| before = [[William Scott (1794–1835)|William Scott]]
| before2 = [[Michael George Prendergast]]
}}
{{s-title
| title = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Gatton (UK Parliament constituency)|Gatton]]
| years = 1830
| with = [[Michael George Prendergast]]
}}
{{s-aft
| after = [[Sir John Shelley, 7th Baronet|John Shelley]]
| after2 = [[John Thomas Hope]]
}}

{{succession box
| title = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Chippenham (UK Parliament constituency)|Chippenham]]
| years = 1830–1856
| with = [[Philip Pusey]] to 1831
| with2 = [[Henry George Boldero]] 1831–1832
| with3 = [[William Fox Talbot]] 1832–1835
| with4 = [[Henry George Boldero]] from 1835
| before = [[Ebenezer Maitland|Ebenezer Fuller Maitland]]<br />[[Frederick Gye]]
| after = [[Robert Parry Nisbet]]<br />[[Henry George Boldero]]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neeld, Joseph}}
[[Category:1789 births]]
[[Category:1856 deaths]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1830–1831]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1831–1832]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1832–1835]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1835–1837]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1837–1841]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1841–1847]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1847–1852]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1852–1857]]
[[Category:Members of the Inner Temple]]
[[Category:Tory MPs (pre-1834)]]
[[Category:Members of Parliament for Chippenham]]

Joseph Neeld - Revision history

imported>Mauls at 23:10, 27 January 2025