Captain The Hon. William Hervey, RN (1699-1776)
John Fayram (fl. 1723 - 1743)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1735
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1257 x 1010 mm (49 ½ x 39 ¾ in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Ickworth, Suffolk
NT 851926
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Captain The Hon. William Hervey, RN (1699-1776) by John Fayram (active c.1713–d.1744), 1735. A three-quarter-length portrait of a man, turned slightly to the right, gazing at the spectator, standing against dark background with a cannon on the left side. He has long grey, curly hair with centre parting. He wears a long red tunic with matching buttons, over a long greyish waistcoat embroidered with gold braid and with gold braid buttons all down the centre, with a white cravat and cuffs. He holds a long telescope in his left hand, resting across his left arm. His right hand is on his waist. Third son of John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol (1665-1751), by his second wife, Elizabeth Felton. Educated at Westminster. He entered the Royal Navy in 1716 and became a Captain. At his father’s suggestion he agreed to an arranged marriage in 1729 with Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Ridge, a rich brewer of Portsmouth. Captain William Hervey received a marriage settlement of £8000 but his wife died in giving birth to their only child Elizabeth in 1730. In 1742 he was cashiered out of the navy by court martial for his excessive harsh discipline at sea.
Provenance
Almost certainly commissioned by the sitter’s father in 1735, and thence by descent to the 3rd Marquess (1834-1907), on whose death inventoried and on the death of the 4th Marquess (1863-1951) valued for probate; accepted by HMTreasury in lieu of tax and transferred to the National Trust in 1956
Credit line
Ickworth, The Bristol Collection (acquired through the National Land Fund and transferred to The National Trust in 1956)
Makers and roles
John Fayram (fl. 1723 - 1743), publisher previously catalogued as attributed to Thomas Hudson (Devonshire 1701 – Twickenham 1779), publisher
References
Farrer 1908 Edmund Farrer, Portraits in Suffolk Houses (West), 1908, no. 113