Francis Henry Egerton, the eighth Earl of Bridgewater was a British eccentric.
The earl owned many dogs and dressed them in tiny, well-made leather boots. Every evening, he dined with a dozen of his dogs at his large dining room table.
Since he owned more than twelve dogs, the dogs had to wait their turn for an invitation to dinner. The dogs sat around the table in comfortable armchairs and had white linen napkins tied under their chins.
Butlers served them from silver serving dishes and placed their food on lovely china dishes. Of course, if a dog had bad table manners, he was asked to leave the party and had to dine alone.
Francis Egerton was born in 1756 and died in 1829.
Did you know that Queen Victoria of England kept 83 dogs at Buckingham Palace? Believe it or not, she knew them all by name.
