Lot 242: SIR HUBERT VON HERKOMER R.A., R.W.S., C.V.O. 1849-1914

PORTRAIT OF RT. HON. EDWARD HUGESSEN-KNATCHBULL, 1ST BARON BRABOURNE (1829-1893)

measurements note
141 by 110.5 cm., 55½ by 43½ in.

Three-quarter length, seated, wearing a dark suit

Signed l.l.: HH83

Oil on canvas

NOTE

The sitter was the son of Sir Edward Knatchbull, 9th Bt. (see lot 238), and his wife, Fanny Catherine, daughter of Edward Knight of Godmersham Park and niece of Jane Austen. Educated at Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford, he entered politics and was elected Liberal M.P. for Sandwich in 1857. In 1859 Palmerston made him a Lord of the Treasury, a post he held until 1866. Under Gladstone he became Under-Secretary for the Home Office and later for the Colonies. In 1880 he was made Baron Brabourne. He was married twice - firstly to Anna Maria Southwell (see lot 247), who died in 1889, and secondly to Ethel Walker. He was an enthusiastic book collector and author, and in 1884 published letters from his great aunt, Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra. His work included fairy stories, modelled on Hans Christian Anderson, and his story, "Puss Cat Mew" was said to have been a favourite of Tolkien and an inspiration for characters in Lord of the Rings.