Henrietta Noel-Hill (oil on canvas)

eldest sister of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Lords of Berwick; painting in the Drawing Room at Attingham; Noel Hill; The sitter was the eldest daughter of Noel Hill, 1st Lord Berwick (1745-1789) and Anne Vernon (1744-1797). During a visit to Italy, with her two sisters and widowed mother, she was rescued by Lord Charles Brudenell-Bruce (1773 – 1856) from a serious riding accident, when her horse bucked. They married at the Villa La Quercia, outside Florence, in April 1793. Her husband succeeded as 2nd Earl of Ailesbury in 1814 and was created Marquess in 1821. They had two sons and a daughter. According to Lawrence’s Diary, the portrait was begun in 1809 and was about two-thirds finished when the artist died. It remained in the artist’s studio until after his death, when it was delivered to Lord Ailesbury. Having had a copy made, Ailesbury sent on the original to the sitter’s brother, William Noel Hill, 3rd Lord Berwick. He thought Berwick would prefer an unfinished picture by an acclaimed artist, rather than a finished copy by a studio assistant.