Illegitimate son of the fourth Marquess of Hertford, he inherited in 1870 one of the largest private collections in Europe. In 1872, he gave Paris fifty fountains that still bear his name. His collection, bequeathed to the British State, forms the Wallace Collection.
The story
Richard Wallace was born in London on 26 July 1818, the illegitimate son of the fourth Marquess of Hertford. He grew up in Paris and inherited his father's very large fortune in 1870, with the art collection that came with it.
He enlarged it without counting the cost: Fragonard, Van Dyck, Velázquez, Rembrandt. It is one of the greatest private collections in Europe, put together over three generations.
During the siege of Paris, in 1870-71, he paid for hospitals and relief work, and received the Croix de Paris. Queen Victoria made him a baronet in 1871.
In 1872 he gave the city fifty public fountains of drinking water, to answer both the shortage of water and the drinking in the poor quarters. The first was unveiled in August; the Wallace fountains, with their four cast-iron caryatids, have been a sign of Paris ever since.
He died at Neuilly in 1890. His widow bequeathed the collection to the British nation in 1897: it forms the Wallace Collection, a national museum in London. He lies in Division 28 with his father, his wife, his grandmother and his uncle.
The grave
A family grave whose inscription comes down to a few words: “Sépulture de famille, Hertford Wallace”. Neither the fountains, nor the collection, nor the title Queen Victoria gave him. Five members of the family rest there, among them his father Richard Seymour Conway, fourth Marquess of Hertford, who died in 1870 — the man whose illegitimate son he was and from whom he inherited everything — his grandmother Maria Emilia Fagnani, his wife Julie Castelnau, and his uncle Henry Seymour, known as “Milord l'Arsouille”, founder of the Jockey Club.
On site, do not miss
A few engraved words — “Sépulture de famille, Hertford Wallace” — for the man who gave Paris fifty fountains.
Visitors' questions
Where is Richard Wallace's grave?
In Division 28, chemin Camille-Jordan, seventh row, in the old upper part of the cemetery — the Division of Beaumarchais, Bourdieu and Redouté. The inscription bears two family names.
Pierre BourdieuDid he really give Paris the Wallace fountains?
He did: fifty public drinking fountains, presented to the City in 1872 to counter the shortage of clean water and the drunkenness of the working-class districts. The first was unveiled in August of that same year.
Adolphe AlphandWhat is the Wallace Collection?
The national museum in London born of his bequest to the British state: Fragonard, Van Dyck, Velázquez, Rembrandt — one of the finest private collections in Europe, assembled over three generations.
Octave de BéhagueWho rests with him?
His wife Julie Castelnau; his father, the fourth Marquess of Hertford, whose illegitimate son he was; his grandmother Maria Emilia Fagnani; and his uncle Henry Seymour, known as “Milord l'Arsouille” — Lord Ruffian — founder of the Jockey Club.
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