Rhoda Apreece, Mrs Francis Blake Delaval (d.1759)
John Vanderbank the younger (London 1694 - London 1739)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1725 (signed and dated)
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1270 x 1016 mm (50 x 40 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Seaton Delaval Hall, Northumberland
NT 1276698
Caption
Rhoda Apreece was the wife of Captain Francis Blake Delaval (1692 – 1752). They had twelve children (eight sons and four daughters). It was difficult to accommodate them at Seaton Delaval, which was a house designed for a bachelor Admiral, so some of them were sent to stay with relatives in other Delaval houses at Dissington and Ford. The unruly brood became unknown as the ‘Gay Delavals’, renowned for their exuberant lifestyle and theatrical productions. Rhoda inherited Doddington Hall from her maternal grandfather, Sir Thomas Hussey, in 1749.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Rhoda Apreece, Mrs Francis Blake Delaval (d.1759), John Vanderbank the younger (London 1694 - London 1739), signed and dated, bottom right: J. Vanderbank / Fecit / 1725 and inscribed along top, in flowing white script: Rhoda Aprice Wife of Fran:s Blake / Delaval Esqr: A three-quarter-length portrait, seated, facing, in grey silk dress, blue curtain to the left, and landscape background right. She was the daughter of Robert Apreece and Sarah Hussey and married Captain Francis Blake Delaval (1692 – 1752) at St Anne’s church, Westminster, in August 1724.
Full description
The Husseys lived at Doddington, to which she was heir, a hall built by Thomas Tailor, Registrar to the Bishop of Lincoln in 1600 and designed by Robert Smythson. The Hall passed to the Hussey family by marriage, when the Tailor line died out. The Husseys were penalised by Cromwell for their Royalist support, and were considerably impoverished, such that the house was neglected until 1760, when Sir John Delaval restored it. Rhoda inherited the house from Sir Thomas Hussey of Doddington, her maternal grandfather, in 1749. She and Sir Francis did not move into Delaval Hall, which had not yet been completed by Sir George, until 1728. Accommodating their twelve children (eight sons and four daughters) into a house designed for a bachelor Admiral, was difficult, and some of them were sent to stay with relatives in other Delaval houses at Dissington and Ford. The unruly brood became unknown as the ‘Gay Delavals’, renowned for their exuberant lifestyle and theatrical productions.
Provenance
accepted in lieu of tax by HM Treasury and transferred to the National Trust in 2009
Credit line
Seaton Delaval, The Hastings Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
John Vanderbank the younger (London 1694 - London 1739), artist