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Auction: 19020 - British and World Historic and Commemorative Medals and Tokens: e-Auction 3
Lot: 151

Scotland, George Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland (1758-1833), AE Memorial Medal, by Bain, 49.5mm. (BHM 1651; Eimer -), greased surfaces, otherwise very fine

Born the Viscount Trentham, this politician, diplomat and patron of the arts was variously known as the Earl Gower and the Marquess of Stafford during his illustrious career. His land ownership ensured that he entered the 19th Century as the wealthiest man in Britain. He was however much criticised for his involvement in the Highland Clearances of 1811-20, ensuring thousands of subsistence tenants were evicted in the hope of being replaced by more profitable sheep farmers. Press commentary at the time was not complimentary, the Observer in 1819 simply running the headline - "The Devastation of Sutherland".

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