Henrietta Maria Noel-Hill, later Marchioness of Ailesbury (c.1773-1831) and her sisters Anne Matilda Noel-Hill (1772-1837) and Amelia Louise Noel-Hill (1776-1850)
attributed to Nathaniel Plimer (Wellington, Salop 1757 – London 1822)
Category
Art / Miniatures
Date
circa 1793
Materials
Watercolour paint on ivory, human hair, gilt metal and glass
Measurements
89 x 72 mm
Order this imageCollection
Attingham Park, Shropshire
NT 609189
Summary
Portrait miniature, watercolour on ivory, Henrietta Maria Noel-Hill, later Marchioness of Ailesbury (c.1773-1831) and her sisters Anne Matilda Noel-Hill (1772-1837) and Amelia Louise Noel-Hill (1776-1850) attributed to Nathaniel Plimer (Wellington, Salop 1757 – London 1822). Oval. Half-length portrait of three young women, the daughter of the 1st Lord Berwick. wearing white dresses and straw hats, a basket in the foreground. All three are young women with brown eyes, luxuriant brown hair and pale pink complexions. Blue sky ground. Set in a plain gilt case with a plait of brown hair in the back. The miniature was probably painted before 1793 when the eldest of Lord Berwick's daughters, Henrietta Maria married Lord Bruce, later Marquess of Ailesbury in Florence. the style suggests Nathaniel Plimer as the artist. In her will, Lady Berwick described it as 'all painted in one piece'(SRO 112/42a/154). The other two daughters were Anna Matilda and Amelia Louisa. Henrietta Maria Hill was the eldest daughter of Noel Hill, 1st Baron Berwick of Attingham (1745-1789) and Anna Vernon (1744-1797) .She married, in Florence on 10th April 1793, Lord Charles Brudenell-Bruce (1773-1856), whom she met in Italy when he saved her from a serious riding accident. Her husband succeeded as 2nd Earl of Ailesbury in 1814 from his father. He was the son of Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury (mother Susanna Hoare). He was created Marquis in 1821. She died on 2 January 1831 at Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, London, England. She was buried on 11 January 1831 at Maulden, Bedfordshire, England. She died intestate and her estate was administered in January 1840. They had two sons and a daughter: 1. George Walter Frederick Brudenell-Bruce, 2nd Marquess of Ailesbury and 8th Earl of Cardigan (1804-1878) who married Lady Mary Caroline Herbert (d.1892) ), daughter of George Augustus Herbert, 11th Earl of Pembroke and 8th Earl of Montgomery (1759-1827) and Catherine Woronzow (his second wife). 2. Ernest Augustus Charles Brudenell-Bruce, 3rd Marquess of Ailesbury and 9th Earl of Cardigan (1811-1886) who married the Hon. Louisa Elizabeth Beresford-Horsley (d.1891) second daughter of John Beresford-Horsley, 2nd Lord Decies (1773-1856) and Charlotte Philadelphia Horsley (d.1852) 3. Augusta Frederica Louisa Brudenell-Bruce who married Frederick William Thomas Vernon Wentworth
Provenance
Probably commissioned by the parents of the sitters: Noel Hill, 1st Baron Berwick (1745-1789) and his wife, Anne (1744-1797); bequeathed by Anne, Lady Berwick, to her son-in-law, Lord Bruce. Attingham collection; bequeathed to the National Trust with the estate, house and contents of Attingham by Thomas Henry Noel-Hill, 8th Baron Berwick (1877-1947) on 15th May 1953.
Makers and roles
attributed to Nathaniel Plimer (Wellington, Salop 1757 – London 1822), publisher