(1738 - 1800) of Northwick Park, Worcs, o. s. of Sir John Rushout, 4th Bt.; educ. Harrow, Eton and Ch.Ch. Oxf. 1756; MP 1761 - 96; m. 1766 Rebecca Bowles; suc. fa. 1775 as 5th Bt.; cr. B. Northwick 1797; FSA 1799.
1758 - 60 Turin (16 Nov. 1758), Milan, Lodi, Piacenza, Parma, Modena, Bologna, Florence (by 13 Jun. 1759), Siena (22 Jun.), Perugia (15 - 18 Jun.), Cortona (19 Jun.), Arezzo (20 Jun.), Siena (23 Jun.), Pisa, Lucca (Jun. - 15 Sep. - ), Leghorn (a few days), Lucca, Siena, Rome (14 Oct. - ), Capua, Naples (Nov.?1759 - Feb. 1760), Rome (Feb.), Florence
John Rushout arrived in Lucca on 10 September 1759 with a Mr Williams.1 On 10 February 1760 he was 'daily expected' in Rome from Naples with Jacob Houblon.2 He appears in Patch's Punch Party painted in Florence in 1760 (Dunham Massey).
These dates broadly agree with those in an anonymous (and apparently incomplete) Italian travel journal (NLW), thought to be by a member of the Rushout family, and almost certainly by John.3 Clearly written retrospectively, it is essentially a collection of historical notes, copious Latin quotations and instructions on travel, but it furnishes the itinerary given above. Statistics are mixed up with comments on, for example, the incomprehensible Italian accent in Turin, the excellence of the opera at Lucca, and the great profits made by the Grand Duke of Tuscany from the free port of Leghorn. Rome prompted harsh reflections on Catholicism, which encouraged the populace to be 'so concerned with their souls, that they neglect their bodies'.
1. SP 105/312, f.156 (Lipyeatt, 11 Sep. 1759). 2. Robinson letters MSS, vr12318. 3. NLW MS 18131B, ff.18 - 61.