Sir Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, Lord Chancellor, PC, FRS, (1690-1764)
Thomas Hudson (Devonshire 1701 – Twickenham 1779)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1750 - 1751 (mezzotint)
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1251 x 1016 mm (49 1/4 x 40 in)
Order this imageCollection
Wimpole, Cambridgeshire
NT 207887
Caption
The sitter was perhaps the most notable Whig lawyer-politician of the 18th century in England. He was also the founder of the Yorke family’s fortunes, the acquirer (in 1740) and transformer of Wimpole, and the founder of its second great collections, of which have since sadly been dispersed. The 1st Earl may have been a great judge, renowned for his judicious judgments, incorruptibility, and impartiality, but he was a far from liberal one. He was, however, one of the most handsome and most urbane men of his day, who preserved his youth by sober living; “and, if hardly a genial companion, he was a firm friend, and a good husband and father.” In 1719 he married Margaret Cocks, Mrs. Lygon, niece of Lord Chancellor Somers, by whom he had five sons - including Philip, his successor as Earl of Hardwicke.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Sir Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, Lord Chancellor, PC, FRS, (1690-1764) by Thomas Hudson (Devonshire 1701 – Twickenham 1779), 1750. Mrs Bambridge was never able to acquire worthy portraits of the 1st or 2nd Earls of Hardwicke, so it was satisfying that the National Trust acquired both at auction in July 1998, with the aid of the NA-CF and Wimpole fund-raising. The 1st Earl who acquired Wimpole in 1740, and employed Flitcroft to transform it, was Lord Chancellor from 1737 to 1756. This portrait was given to his secretary, Hutton Perkins, and remained with descendants of his second daughter, Elizabeth, at Hollin Hall, Yorkshire, until the auction in 1998.
Provenance
Given to the sitter's secretary, Hutton Perkins, and thence by descent, through his second daughter, Elizabeth, who married Richard Wood of Hollin Hall, Yorks., to Anthony Boynton-Wood, at whose posthumous sale at Christie's, 16 July 1998, lot 8, it was bought by the National Trust with the aid of the National Art Collections Fund (The Art Fund)
Makers and roles
Thomas Hudson (Devonshire 1701 – Twickenham 1779), artist