portrait – IMS Photography

An Unknown Lady, possibly Anne Armstrong, Mrs William Henry Watson (1802-1828)

Ian Malpass-Scott — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 16:29:00 +0000

The lady in this portrait may be Anne Armstrong, Mrs Watson, the older sister of Lord Armstrong (1810–1900), who married William Henry Watson (1796–1860) in 1826. If this identification is correct, the portrait must have been painted around the mid-1820s, since Anne died young in 1828, aged just 26.

Oil painting on canvas, An Unknown Lady, possibly Anne Armstrong, Mrs William Henry Watson (1802-1828), manner of Sir Thomas Lawrence, PRA (Bristol 1769 – London 1830), early 19th century. A three-quarter-length portrait of a lady, seated, with her head turned to the left, wearing a dark dress with white lace sleeves and a gold bracelet on each arm. A red curtain hangs behind her, to the right, and a landscape can be seen beyond to the left. The sitter may be Anne Armstrong, Mrs Watson, the older sister of Lord Armstrong (1810-1900), who married William Henry Watson (1796–1860) in 1826.

Provenance: Armstrong collection. Transferred by the Treasury to The National Trust in 1977 via the National Land Fund, aided by 3rd Baron Armstrong of Bamburgh and Cragside (1919 – 1987).

Marks and inscriptions: On a gilt tablet, suspended from the frame: ANNE ARMSTRONG / Mrs W. H. Watson / 1802–1828

Text from the National Trust website

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Cragside, Rothbury, Northumberland
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: Unknown artist
Date: Unknown

Image Details
Date: 21 April 2026
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Wide Camera 26mm ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 26mm
Aperture: ƒ/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/20s
ISO: 640
Licensing: Image of a National Trust asset. This image cannot be licensed.

Sir William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong of Cragside (1810-1900), in the Inglenook at Cragside

Ian Malpass-Scott — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 16:29:00 +0000

Lord Armstrong is seated on one of the sturdy oak settles in the grand stone inglenook in the Dining Room at Cragside. Reading the newspaper, with his dogs at his feet, and a fire blazing in the background, Armstrong is shown as a man of Victorian domesticity, rather than the industrial magnate he had by then become. In his otherwise faithful depiction of the inglenook, Emmerson takes a permissible artistic liberty in shunting the inscription above the fireplace onto two lines instead of one, so as to squeeze it into the picture.

Oil painting on canvas, Sir William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong of Cragside (1810-1900), in the Inglenook at Cragside, by Henry Hetherington Emmerson (Chester-le-Street 1831 – Cullercoats 1895), signed bottom left: H H Emmerson, 1880. A full-length portrait of Lord Armstrong as an elderly man, reading a newspaper seated in the Inglenook fireplace in the Dining Room at Cragside (with the motto put onto two lines so as to squeeze it in), with two dogs at his feet.

Provenance: Presumably commissioned by Lord Armstrong (1810-1900); thence by descent; transferred by the Treasury to The National Trust in 1977 via the National Land Fund, aided by 3rd Baron Armstrong of Bamburgh and Cragside (1919-1987).

Marks and inscriptions: Bottom left: H. H. Emmerson On a label suspended from the frame: Sir William Armstrong / 1810–1900 / H. H. Emmerson 1880

Text from the National Trust website

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Cragside, Rothbury, Northumberland
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: Henry Hetherington Emmerson (1831–1895)
Date: 1880

Image Details
Date: 21 April 2026
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Wide Camera 26mm ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 26mm
Aperture: ƒ/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/4s
ISO: 500
Licensing: Image of a National Trust asset. This image cannot be licensed.

Sir William George Armstrong , 1st Baron Armstrong of Cragside (1810-1900)

Ian Malpass-Scott — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 16:29:00 +0000

William George Armstrong (1810-1900) was an extraordinary scientist and technical innovator. As one of the leading industrialists of his generation, he greatly influenced the Victorian wealth of Newcastle upon Tyne. He and his wife created two beautiful homes: the first in Jesmond Dene on the outskirts on Newcastle, and then Cragside.

Oil painting on canvas, Sir William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong of Cragside (1810-1900), by Mary Lemon Waller (Bideford 1851 – 1931), signed and dated 1898. A head-and-shoulders portrait of Lord Armstrong of Cragside in old age, turned to the left, looking down, wearing a dark jacket, brown waistcoat, and black cravat. Mary Lemon Waller was a portrait and genre painter who studied at the Royal Academy where she exhibited from 1877 to 1904. She was the daughter of the Reverend Hugh Fowler of Bumwood, Gloucestershire and married the genre and animal painter Samuel Edmund Waller (1850 – 1903). She and her husband were recorded living in St John’s Wood, London in 1881. She was also a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, London in 1925 and exhibited sixty works there as well as the Society of Women Artists, London, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, London, Dudley Gallery and New Gallery, London, Grosvenor Gallery, London, the Manchester City Art Gallery and at the Royal Scottish Academy.

Provenance: Presumably commissioned by Sir William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong of Cragside (1810-1900); recorded at Cragside by E. Rimbault Dibdin, ‘Lord Armstrong’s Collection of Modern Pictures. II’, in The Magazine of Art, April 1891; thence by descent; transferred by the Treasury to The National Trust in 1977 via the National Land Fund, aided by 3rd Baron Armstrong of Bamburgh and Cragside (1919 – 1987).

Marks and inscriptions: Bottom left: M L. Waller. / 1898.

Text from the National Trust website

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Cragside, Rothbury, Northumberland
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: Mary Lemon Waller (1851-1931)
Date: 1898

Image Details
Date: 21 April 2026
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Wide Camera 26mm ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 26mm
Aperture: ƒ/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/21s
ISO: 800
Licensing: Image of a National Trust asset. This image cannot be licensed.

Margaret Ramshaw, Lady Armstrong (1807-1893)

Ian Malpass-Scott — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 16:29:00 +0000

Margaret Ramshaw of Bishop Auckland was the wife of William George, 1st Lord Armstrong (1810–1900). She played an important role in the design of the gardens at Jesmond Dene, the couple’s house in Newcastle, and later at Cragside. This portrait was painted by John Callcott Horsley, who was the brother-in-law of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It was probably through Horsley that Lord and Lady Armstrong were introduced to the architect Richard Norman Shaw, who had remodelled Horsley’s house at Cranbrook and was to work at Cragside.

Oil painting on canvas (oval), Margaret Ramshaw, Lady Armstrong (1807-1893), by John Callcott Horsley, RA (London 1817 – Cranbrook 1903), monogrammed and dated, bottom right 1868. A half-length portrait of Lady Armstrong, turned to the right in near profile, wearing a black-and-white dress with black shawl, and a gold, enamelled locket around her neck.

Provenance: Painted for Sir William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong of Cragside (1810-1900), in 1868; thence by descent; transferred by the Treasury to The National Trust in 1977 via the National Land Fund, aided by 3rd Baron Armstrong of Bamburgh and Cragside (1919-1987).

Marks and inscriptions: Lower right background: monogrammed ICH (the letters overlaid on top of one another) 1868

Text from the National Trust website

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Cragside, Rothbury, Northumberland
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: John Callcott Horsley RA (1817–1903)
Date: 1868

Image Details
Date: 21 April 2026
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Wide Camera 26mm ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 26mm
Aperture: ƒ/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/19s
ISO: 800
Licensing: Image of a National Trust asset. This image cannot be licensed.

Only an Orange Girl

Ian Malpass-Scott — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 16:29:00 +0000

Lord Armstrong had a taste for sentimental pictures of young children. The young girl in this painting is posing as a poor street urchin and wears a forlorn expression, a dirty blouse and ragged skirt. Her shiny hair, clean face and flushed cheeks are clear indicators, however, that it is all a game. Only an Orange Girl is comparable with the pictures of young children that were painted by Sir John Everett Millais during this period and in fact, despite evidence to the contrary, it was once thought to be by Millais himself.

Oil painting on canvas, Only an Orange Girl by Edward Patry RBA (London 1856 – 1940), monogrammed and dated, bottom left: E P 1885. A three-quarter-length picture of a young girl wearing a straw hat with a peacock’s feather, a torn white blouse and blue skirt, carrying a basket of oranges.

Provenance: Armstrong collection. Transferred by the Treasury to The National Trust in 1977 via the National Land Fund, aided by 3rd Baron Armstrong of Bamburgh and Cragside (1919 – 1987).

Marks and inscriptions: Bottom left: E P [in a monogram] 1885

Text from the National Trust website

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Cragside, Rothbury, Northumberland
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: Edward Patry RBA (1856 – 1940)
Date: 1885

Image Details
Date: 21 April 2026
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Telephoto Camera 52mm ƒ/2.4
Focal Length: 52mm
Aperture: ƒ/2.4
Shutter Speed: 1/33s
ISO: 500
Licensing: Image of a National Trust asset. This image cannot be licensed.

William John Montagu Watson-Armstrong, 2nd Baron Armstrong of Bamburgh and Cragside (1892-1972)

Ian Malpass-Scott — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 16:29:00 +0000

This is a posthumous portrait of the 2nd Lord Armstrong of Bamburgh and Cragside, painted a year after he died. In the background we can see Cragside, the property which he inherited from his father in 1941. He served as a Captain in the 7th battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers during the Great War and was later Consul-General for Siam (Thailand) in Canada.

Oil painting on canvas, William John Montagu Watson-Armstrong, 2nd Baron Armstrong of Bamburgh and Cragside (1892-1972) by Mary Bernhard, signed and dated, botttom right: Bernhard 1973. A posthumous half-length portrait of an elderly man in a landscape, facing the viewer, holding a walking stick in his left hand. A view of Cragside can be seen in the middle distance.

Provenance: Armstrong collection. Transferred by the Treasury to The National Trust in 1977 via the National Land Fund, aided by 3rd Baron Armstrong of Bamburgh and Cragside (1919 – 1987).

Marks and inscriptions: Bottom right: Bernard 1973

Text from the National Trust website

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Cragside, Rothbury, Northumberland
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: Mary Bernhard (fl.1973)
Date: 1973

Image Details
Date: 21 April 2026
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Wide Camera 26mm ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 26mm
Aperture: ƒ/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/25s
ISO: 500
Licensing: Image of a National Trust asset. This image cannot be licensed.

William John Montagu Watson-Armstrong, 2nd Baron Armstrong of Bamburgh and Cragside (1892-1972) in Coronation Robes

Ian Malpass-Scott — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 16:29:00 +0000

A black painted frame containing copies of a group of three photographs of William Henry Armstrong Fitzpatrick Watson-Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong of Bamburgh and Cragside (1863-1941) at a formal dinner.

Provenance: Armstrong collection. Transferred by the Treasury to The National Trust in 1977 via the National Land Fund, aided by 3rd Baron Armstrong of Bamburgh and Cragside (1919 – 1987).

Text from the National Trust website

Object description
Type: Photographic print
Location: Cragside, Rothbury, Northumberland
Material: Photograph on paper
Artist: Unknown photographer
Date: Unknown

Image Details
Date: 21 April 2026
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Wide Camera 26mm ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 26mm
Aperture: ƒ/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/22s
ISO: 800
Licensing: Image of a National Trust asset. This image cannot be licensed.

William Henry Armstrong Fitzpatrick Watson-Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong of Bamburgh and Cragside (1863-1941)

Ian Malpass-Scott — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 16:29:00 +0000

Provenance: Armstrong collection. Transferred by the Treasury to The National Trust in 1977 via the National Land Fund, aided by 3rd Baron Armstrong of Bamburgh and Cragside (1919 – 1987).

Text from the National Trust website

Object description
Type: Photographic print
Location: Cragside, Rothbury, Northumberland
Material: Photograph on paper
Artist: Unknown photographer
Date: Unknown

Image Details
Date: 21 April 2026
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Wide Camera 26mm ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 26mm
Aperture: ƒ/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/30s
ISO: 640
Licensing: Image of a National Trust asset. This image cannot be licensed.

The Rt Hon. John Wilson Croker (1780-1857)

Ian Malpass-Scott — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 16:29:00 +0000

Oil painting on canvas, The Rt Hon. John Wilson Croker (1780-1857), after Sir Thomas Lawrence, PRA (Bristol 1769 – London 1830), 19th century. A half-length portrait, facing the viewer, wearing black. After the portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence, 1823, engraved Samuel Cousins, published London, June 1829 (NPG D34239, D18676, D34240).

Provenance: Armstrong collection. Transferred by the Treasury to The National Trust in 1977 via the National Land Fund, aided by 3rd Baron Armstrong of Bamburgh and Cragside (1919 – 1987).

Text from the National Trust website

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Cragside, Rothbury, Northumberland
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: after Sir Thomas Lawrence, PRA (Bristol 1769 – London 1830)
Date: 1823 – 1899

Image Details
Date: 21 April 2026
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Telephoto Camera 52mm ƒ/2.4
Focal Length: 52mm
Aperture: ƒ/2.4
Shutter Speed: 1/32s
ISO: 640
Licensing: Image of a National Trust asset. This image cannot be licensed.

Jane Potter

Ian Malpass-Scott — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 16:29:00 +0000

Oil painting on canvas, Jane Potter, British (English) School, 19th century. A half-length portrait of a woman, facing the viewer, her left hand held to her cheek, wearing a white lace bonnet, jewelled pendant, green dress, and lace fichu.

Provenance: Armstrong collection. Transferred by the Treasury to The National Trust in 1977 via the National Land Fund, aided by 3rd Baron Armstrong of Bamburgh and Cragside (1919 – 1987).

Text from the National Trust website

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Cragside, Rothbury, Northumberland
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: Unknown artist
Date: 1800 – 1899

Image Details
Date: 21 April 2026
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Telephoto Camera 52mm ƒ/2.4
Focal Length: 52mm
Aperture: ƒ/2.4
Shutter Speed: 1/37s
ISO: 640
Licensing: Image of a National Trust asset. This image cannot be licensed.