Description: Welbeck Abbey is a landscaped park with much woodland, c.1200ha, having had extensive C19 and early C20 formal gardens in vicinity of house. It was home to the Dukes of Portland. The first Duke of Portland attained Peerage of Great Britain in 1716. This was William Henry Bentinck, who was already Earl of Portland. The dukedom came into the possession of the Cavendish-Bentinck family by marriage. The Cavendish-Bentinck family of Welbeck Abbey, has quite an extensive history. The 3rd Duke of Portland, William Henry Cavendish Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, Marquess of Titchfield, Earl of Portland, Viscount Woodstock, Baron of Cirencester. (April 14, 1738 - October 30, 1809) was the most famous, as statesman and Prime Minister. The 5th Duke was an eccentric recluse, who shunned visitors. He had fifteen miles of tunnels dug under the house which housed libraries; a billiard room large enough for twelve full size tables and an enormous subterranean ballroom large enough to take two thousand dancers - all of which remained unused. When in London, the Duke always travelled in a closed carriage; maintained a shuttered box at the Opera and kept the curtains permanently drawn at the windows of his substantial town house in Cavendish Square. The Dukedom of Portland became extinct on the 9th Duke's death, though the 9th Duke's distant cousin succeeded him as Earl of Portland. Since the 1950s Welbeck Abbey has been used by the British Army as a sixth-form college. This view is an engraving by Samuel Buck. The Dictionary of National Biography quotes Samuel Buck as an 'engraver and topographical draughtsman, (who) drew and engraved 428 views of the ruins of all the noted abbeys, castles, &c., together with four views of seats and eighty-three large general views of the chief cities and towns of England and Wales.' Samuel Buck was born in Richmond, Yorkshire, in 1696, and had a younger brother Nathaniel. Details of the brothers' training are not recorded but Samuel is known to have been professionally acquainted with the Yorkshire antiquaries Ralph Thorsebury and John Warburton. He was only 15 when his first work was published so it can be assumed that he acquired his drawing and engraving skills very early and very quickly. The northern connection manifested itself in these first works with views produced of edifices in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. At this stage in his career one presumes that the engraved views were produced and sold as single items or in small collections. In 1724 Samuel moved to London and this coincided with the publication of a fuller collection of his views, from drawings made between 1711 and that date. 1726 saw a second collection showing ruins of Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, while those of Cheshire, Derbyshire and Lancashire were to follow in 1727, this time produced in collaboration with brother Nathaniel who had now joined him in the capital. Based at 'The Golden Buck in Warwick Street near Golden Square, St. James's', the pair then produced annual collections between 1728 and 1738, inclusively. Their work pattern was one of their issuing forth in late spring from Warwick Street to the shires and provinces where their subjects were sited. The summers would be spent drawing, while winters were spent producing the plates and engravings. Such a disciplined programme of operation was accompanied by an erstwhile attention to meeting annual deadlines. With the brothers now operating from No.1., Garden Court, Middle Temple, this reliability continued from 1739 to 1742 but these later collections included, more and more, panoramic views of cities. From 1743 onwards production in the genre became more piecemeal and it finally ceased with Nathaniel's death in 1754. (information from www.castlewales.com)