William Bell (c.1735 – 1794) – IMS Photography

John Delaval as an Archer and an Unidentified Attendant

Ian Malpass-Scott — Sun, 21 May 2023 15:58:35 +0000

Oil painting on canvas, John Delaval (1756-1775) as an Archer, with an Unidentifed Attendant, attributed to William Bell (Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1740 – 1804). Possibly a ricordo of the picture in the Gallery.

Provenance: accepted in lieu of tax by H.M.Treasury and transferred to the National Trust in 2009

Text from National Trust website

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Seaton Delaval Hall, Northumberland
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: William Bell (c.1735 – 1794)
Date: circa 1770

Image Details
Date: 21 May 2023
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.

Detail

Elizabeth Delaval, later Lady Audley, playing a lyre in a landscape

Ian Malpass-Scott — Sun, 21 May 2023 15:54:49 +0000

Married George Thicknesse, Baron Audley in May 1781, as his first wife, and bore him three issue. The title was inherited from the Baron’s maternal side, which caused much resentment on the part of his father, who publicly accused him of seducing the daughter of a clergyman. Elizabeth fell ill in the summer of 1785 and died on 11th July, aged 27. [see M. Green, The Delavals. A Family History, Newcastle, 2007, pp.98 – 99]. It is not known exactly where these pictures hung, although it seems most likely that they were in the Saloon (there is insufficient space in the Entrance Hall). The daughters are framed in a later and a simpler type of frame (c.1800) than those of Susanna and the two males. It seems possible that their frames were changed in order that they might fit into an alternative location. William Bell is little known for two reasons: that he was for most of his life a provincial painter, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne; and that for half a decade or more, from c.1770 to at least 1775 he was “limner” – the term was as old-fashioned as the mode of employment – to Sir John Hussey Delaval (cr. Baron Delaval of Redford in the Irish Peerage in 1783, and Seaton Delaval in the British Peerage in 1786. Yet these portraits show him to have been a gifted and individual painter, and his London career was much more promising. He was – at the advanced age of 34 – the first student to enter the newly-founded Royal Academy’s Schools in 1769, and won a gold medal there for a painting of Venus Entreating Vulcan to forge Arms for Aeneas in 1771. It seems likely that he was related to Alexander Bell, who carved stonework at Seaton Delaval between 1764 and 1768, and who returned there in 1776 to build the mausoleum. That may have been the connection that brought William to Seaton Delaval, where he not only painted the four original whole-lengths, but also extended earlier family portraits to make a set with them. They all hang in the Gallery, along with the Astley / Hasting chairs and settees upholstered with the Tournament embroidery. Other portraits by Bell are in what is now the main repository of Delaval pictures, Dodington Hall, Lincolnshire. After this activity for Lord Delaval, Bell retired back to Newcastle, and sank into provincial obscurity. He seems, towards the end of his life, to have became the friend of Thomas Bewick, the wood-engraver of Cherryburn (NT). (Amanda Bradley)

Provenance: accepted in lieu of tax by H.M.Treasury and transferred to the National Trust in 2009

Marks & Inscriptions: Bottom right: Wm. Bell Pinxt. Bottom left: Elizabeth Delaval. 1774 Frame tablet: ELIZABETH, afterwards Lady Audley, b.1757 – d.1785 / 4th daughter of John, Lord Delaval / WILLIAM BELL 1774

Text from National Trust website

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Seaton Delaval Hall, Northumberland
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: William Bell (c.1735 – 1794)
Date: 1774

Frances Delaval, later Mrs Fenton Cawthorne, with her Sister, Sarah Delaval, later Countess of Tyrconnel, with a shuttlecock and battledore, in an interior

Ian Malpass-Scott — Sun, 21 May 2023 15:52:53 +0000

The two youngest daughters of Sir John Hussey Delaval, Bt. (1728 – 1808), later Lord Delaval. Frances married, in August 1778, John Fenton of Lancaster, who, in 1781, inherited a modest estate at Wyreside in Lancashire, and became Mr Fenton Cawthorne. He was elected M.P. for Lincoln in 1783, but when the time came for re-election in 1790 he had to battle against two contenders. He spent £2500 on his campaign, most of it unwittingly bankrolled by Sir John, who insistent on being repaid, forced Cawthorne to sell assets and he cut France’s allowance. He joined the army as a Colonel, but the pitiful wage did little to settle his debts and he was eventually court-martialled for embezzling funds and bribery, which resulted in his being expelled from the Commons in May 1796. Frances loyally stood by him, and by 1801, appears to have been in correspondence with her father. Having paid off some of their debts, by 1807 they were reunited, and in a letter of that year she thanks him for a draft of £125. She died in 1839, the last of her generation. Sarah was the youngest and favourite daughter of Sir John Hussey Delaval and Susanna Robinson. Beautiful, strong-willed and captivating – notably to Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, the second son of George III. She was hastily married off to George Carpenter, 2nd Earl Tyrconnel (1750 – 1805) on 3rd June 1780, and they honeymooned at Doddington, where they reportedly played ‘blind man’s buff’ [!] She bore him two children, the first of which died in 1790, and her daughter Susan, later marrying the Marquess of Waterford. By 1787 Sarah and the Duke of York were lovers, and he bought a house, Oatlands, in order to be close to her country estate, Claremont, which had been bought by her father. The Duke married Princess Frederika of Prussia, and their affair dwindled, and by 1791, Sarah had embarked on an intense affair with Lord Strathmore, who had been smitten by her performance in The Fair Penitent at Seaton Delaval. In 1792 he bought Claremont Lodge, only a mile away from Claremont House, but when they were in the North, he and Sarah lived openly at Gibside, where she died on 7th October 1800, after a long illness. Her obituary, written by her father, stated that she had died at Seaton Delaval, although The Gentleman’s Magazine pointed out that she had actually died at the seat of her lover. Strathmore gave her a lavish funeral, and she was buried at Westminster Abbey. Strathmore embarked upon an affair with Sarah’s 19 year old daughter, whom he wished to marry, but the match was prohibited by her father (see M. Green, The Delavals. A Family History, Newcastle, 2007, pp.99-102). It is not known exactly where these pictures hung, although it seems most likely that they were in the Saloon (there is insufficient space in the Entrance Hall). The daughters are framed in a later and a simpler type of frame (c.1800) than those of Susanna and the two males. It seems possible that their frames were changed in order that they might fit into an alternative location. William Bell is little known for two reasons: that he was for most of his life a provincial painter, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne; and that for half a decade or more, from c.1770 to at least 1775 he was “limner” – the term was as old-fashioned as the mode of employment – to Sir John Hussey Delaval (cr. Baron Delaval of Redford in the Irish Peerage in 1783, and Seaton Delaval in the British Peerage in 1786. Yet these portraits show him to have been a gifted and individual painter, and his London career was much more promising. He was – at the advanced age of 34 – the first student to enter the newly-founded Royal Academy’s Schools in 1769, and won a gold medal there for a painting of Venus Entreating Vulcan to forge Arms for Aeneas in 1771. It seems likely that he was related to Alexander Bell, who carved stonework at Seaton Delaval between 1764 and 1768, and who returned there in 1776 to build the mausoleum. That may have been the connection that brought William to Seaton Delaval, where he not only painted the four original whole-lengths, but also extended earlier family portraits to make a set with them. They all hang in the Gallery, along with the Astley / Hasting chairs and settees upholstered with the Tournament embroidery. Other portraits by Bell are in what is now the main repository of Delaval pictures, Dodington Hall, Lincolnshire. After this activity for Lord Delaval, Bell retired back to Newcastle, and sank into provincial obscurity. He seems, towards the end of his life, to have became the friend of Thomas Bewick, the wood-engraver of Cherryburn (NT). (Amanda Bradley)

Provenance: accepted in lieu of tax by H.M.Treasury and transferred to the National Trust in 2009

Marks & Inscriptions: Bottom right: Wm. Bell Pinxt. Bottom left, and bottom centre: Frances Delaval. 1771. Sarah Hussey Delaval. 1771. Frame tablet: FRANCES, b.1759, afterwards Mrs Fenton: and SARAH, b.1763 / afterwards Countess of Tyrconnell and heiress to Ford Castle, Northumberland, / 5th and 6th daughters of John, Lord Delaval. / WILLIAM BELL, 1771

Text from National Trust website

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Seaton Delaval Hall, Northumberland
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: William Bell (c.1735 – 1794)
Date: 1771

Image Details
Date: 21 May 2023
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Wide Camera 26mm ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 26mm
Aperture: ƒ/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/30s
ISO: 500
Licensing: Image of a National Trust asset. This image cannot be licensed.

Sophia Anne Delaval, later Mrs John Jadis, as a girl, tuning a Mandolin in a Landscape Setting

Ian Malpass-Scott — Sun, 21 May 2023 15:47:43 +0000

The second daughter of John, Lord Delaval. At the age of 21 she travelled in Europe, where she met her first husband, Henry Devereux of Bordeaux. In 1778 she returned, pregnant, but without her ‘husband’, and later gave birth to a boy, Henry (in the church register Sophia is given the surname ‘Delaval’ – later crossed out, with ‘Devereux written above). She later returned to France for a year, but this time came back with another husband, a John Jadis (an ensign in the 59th Regiment of Foot), whom she had purportedly married in the Catholic Cathedral in Brussels. On the insistence of her father, they were married again, on 6th February 1780, at St. Mary’s, Lambeth. Needless to say, Jadis did not fit in with the Delavals, at one point quarelling with his brother-in-law, Lord Tyrconnel, and challenging him to a duel. Sophia endured her husband for some six years, at which point they parted. He was paid £100 per annum by Sir John. Sophia died in 1793, leaving unpaid bills (probably for opium) for £96. Her son was brought up by his grandmother, Susanna, at Seaton. (see M. Green, The Delavals. A Family History, Newcastle, 2007, pp.97-8). There are pentimenti in her head and arms – could she have previously been in stronger profile to match her sister, Elizabeth? It is not known exactly where these pictures hung, although it seems most likely that they were in the Saloon (there is insufficient space in the Entrance Hall). The daughters are framed in a later and a simpler type of frame (c.1800) than those of Susanna and the two males. It seems possible that their frames were changed in order that they might fit into an alternative location. William Bell is little known for two reasons: that he was for most of his life a provincial painter, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne; and that for half a decade or more, from about 1770 to at least 1775 he was “limner” – the term was as old-fashioned as the mode of employment – to Sir John Hussey Delaval (cr. Baron Delaval of Redford in the Irish Peerage in 1783, and Seaton Delaval in the British Peerage in 1786. Yet these portraits show him to have been a gifted and individual painter, and his London career was much more promising. He was – at the advanced age of 34 – the first student to enter the newly-founded Royal Academy’s Schools in 1769, and won a gold medal there for a painting of Venus Entreating Vulcan to forge Arms for Aeneas in 1771. It seems likely that he was related to Alexander Bell, who carved stonework at Seaton Delaval between 1764 and 1768, and who returned there in 1776 to build the mausoleum. That may have been the connection that brought William to Seaton Delaval, where he not only painted the four original whole-lengths, but also extended earlier family portraits to make a set with them. They all hang in the Gallery, along with the Astley / Hasting chairs and settees upholstered with the Tournament embroidery. Other portraits by Bell are in what is now the main repository of Delaval pictures, Doddington Hall, Lincolnshire. After this activity for Lord Delaval, Bell retired back to Newcastle, and sank into provincial obscurity. He seems, towards the end of his life, to have became the friend of Thomas Bewick, the wood-engraver of Cherryburn (NT). (Amanda Bradley)

Provenance: accepted in lieu of tax by H.M.Treasury and transferred to the National Trust in 2009

Marks & Inscriptions: Recto, bottom right : signed: Wm. Bell Pinxt. Recto, bottom left: Sophia Anne Delaval. 1770 Recto: SOPHIA ANN, afterwards Mrs. Jadis. b.1752. d. 1793 / 2nd daughter of John, Lord Delaval. / WILLIAM BELL. 1770

Text from National Trust website

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Seaton Delaval Hall, Northumberland
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: William Bell (c.1735 – 1794)
Date: 1770