Lot 193: Samuel Andrews (Irish, circa 1767-1807) Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Merrick Shawe, bust-length, semi-profile to the right, wearing coat with lace to the button holes, epaulettes, stock, his hair tied with a ribbon bow

Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Merrick Shawe, bust-length, semi-profile to the right, wearing coat with lace to the button holes, epaulettes, stock, his hair tied with a ribbon bow.
Painted en grisaille, signed on the obverse and dated S. Andrews. Calcutta 1800, gold frame.
Oval, 87mm (3 7/16in) high

Lt Col Matthew Merrick Shawe of the 87th Regiment of Foot had three sisters and two brothers, Lt Henry Shawe of the 74th Regiment and Capt Fielding Shawe, who were both killed in action.

Lt Col Merrick Shawe married Isabella Gethin Creagh, daughter of Arthur Gethin Creagh and Isabella Bagwell. He served with distinction under the Duke of Wellington and was severely wounded at Assaye, Fuentes de Honor and Badajoz. Merrick Shawe was military secretary to Sir Richard, Marquess Wellesley, 2nd Earl of Mornington, Governor-General of Bengal. Merrick Shawe died from climate fatique in Ava, Burma.

In 1837, Lieutenant Colonel Merrick Shawe's daughter, Isabella Gethen Creagh Shawe (1816-1892) married the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray, son of Richmond Makepeace Thackeray and Anne Becher in Paris, France.