David William Murray, 3rd Earl of Mansfield, KT (7 March 1777 – 18 February 1840) was a British army officer and peer, who served as Lord Lieutenant of Clackmannanshire from 1803 until his death.
Mary Hamilton, his mother's first cousin, visited Kenwood and described "little William had written an answer to a letter from his great uncle Lord Mansfield—the style was easy & the language perfectly good—no one would imagine this letter to have been written by a boy of 7 years old—he has very astonishing abilities of comprehension equally surprising for his age."[3]
Mansfield appointed William Atkinson to undertake essential structural reinforcement to Kenwood house between 1803 and 1839. Although the Mansfields preferred to live at their Scottish seat, Scone Palace, which had also been previously rebuilt by William Atkinson.
When his eldest daughter Lady Frederica died in 1823, Mansfield took his greatly afflicted and depressed son in law to live at Kenwood, but he never recovered and died in 1825, the jury gave a verdict of "temporary insanity".
In July 1835, King William IV and Queen Adelaide paid a royal visit to Kenwood, this was attended by 800 of the nobility and gentry, scattered around the Kenwood garden. The Marchioness of Salisbury wrote "The King and Queen and Royalties extremely well pleased: the King trotted about with Lord M. in the most active manner".
Personal life
On 16 September 1797, Mansfield married Frederica Markham , a daughter of Sarah (née Goddard) Markham and William Markham, Archbishop of York.[2] William Markham was a close friend of his father, the 2nd Earl of Mansfield. They had nine children:[2][12][13]