Egerton Brydges

Who was Egerton Brydges?

Sir Samuel Egerton Brydges, 1st Baronet was an English bibliographer and genealogist. He was also Member of Parliament for Maidstone from 1812 to 1818.

Educated at Maidstone Grammar School and The King's School, Canterbury, Brydges was admitted to Queens' College, Cambridge in 1780, though he did not take a degree. He was called to the bar from the Middle Temple in 1787. He wrote some novels and poems, now forgotten, but rendered valuable service by his bibliographical publications, Censura Literaria, Titles and Opinions of Old English Books, his editions of Edward Phillips's Theatrum Poetarum Anglicanorum Arthur Collins's Peerage of England, and of many rare Elizabethan authors. He was a founder member of the Roxburghe Club, the publishing club of wealthy bibliophiles.

In 1789, the Chandos barony became dormant. Egerton Brydges attempted to claim the title, initially on behalf on his older brother Revd Edward Tymewell Brydges and then on his own behalf. The litigation lasted from 1790 to 1803 before the claims were rejected, but he continued to style himself per legem terrae Baron Chandos of Sudeley. It seems likely that not only was the claim groundless but that the evidence was forged.