Ozias Humphry, Elizabeth Craven and Jane Austen

Elizabeth Craven was painted many times. This portrait of her by Ozias Humphry (1742-1810) is one of the most fascinating images as it captures a certain shrewdness and humorous twinkle in the eye. 

Ozias Humphrey, self-portrait.

The date of the painting was until recently uncertain, but it has now been established from correspondence in a private collection that it was done in 1782, just before Craven left England for France. Her husband never paid for it, and the bill was finally settled several years later by her brother the Earl of Berkeley.

    Ozias Humphry was a tremendously talented artist whose career was blighted by an accident that damaged his eyesight, and by 1797 he became completely blind. He did not spend his entire working life in England; he was in Italy from 1773 until 1777, and left for India in 1785. 

 When we look at the high-built-up hairstyle, with a silken scarf wound into it, and the light muslin shawl draped around the shoulders, they are very similar to what we see in the portrait done by George Romney in 1778.


It is said that Ozias Humphry also painted this charming picture of a young girl which is supposed to be dated around 1788. 


Tradition claims that it is a portrait of the young Jane Austen, done while she, her sister and her father were staying with her great-uncle Francis Austen in Sevenoaks in Kent. Ozias Humphry often worked nearby at Knole for the Duke of Dorset, and he painted a portrait of Francis Austen. So it has been claimed that the girl in this picture is Jane Austen, aged 13. 
   I don't believe it. We know that Jane and Cassandra did go to stay with her great-uncle in 1788, but the style of the gown and hair in this painting do not correspond to that date. They are more like those of the period 1800-1810. Fashions changed drastically in the 1790s, and such extremely high-waisted gowns did not arrive until the end of the decade. The fashion for short hair was set during the French Revolution and took several years to cross the Channel to England.
    By 1800, the earliest possible date of this painting, Jane Austen was aged 25, and the child depicted doesnt look thirteen to me. She is more like eight or nine!

    Pleasant though it might be to find one more intriguing link between Austen and Craven, I think the story was invented by a later member of the family who inherited it after Austen became famous.

   To find out more about Elizabeth Craven, her life and her writings, read Elizabeth Craven: Writer, Feminist and European.
The link to the Vernon Press page of the book is: 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Craven Family of Hamstead Marshall, Enborne, Berkshire

Image
If you go to Hamstead Marshall, near Newbury, in Berkshire, you will see a pair of enigmatic gateposts standing in the middle of what looks like open farmland. They lead nowhere, and the effect is surreal. There are seven other pairs of gateposts of similar style in the locality, giving a clue to the existence of a now-vanished house and park. In fact there have been many buildings on this site, including a mediaeval castle. The name comes from the Marshall family who owned it in the reign of Henry II. In 1550, Edward VI gave the estate to his sister, the young Princess Elizabeth.  There are some scandalous rumours that the Tudor house was a hiding-place for a secret love-child the Queen bore in her youth, but this is probably legend. Elizabeth I when a Princess   c.1546. Did she have a secret love-child  at Hampstead Marshall? After she came to the throne, the Queen gave Hamstead to  Sir Thomas Parry, formerly her bursar, who built a new reside...
Read more

Dangerous Liaisons: The Wicked Earl of Berkeley

Image
Elizabeth Craven's elder brother, Frederick, 5th Earl of Berkeley, was one of the most eligible men in England. Clever, cultivated and well-travelled, owner of vast estates that included Berkeley Square in London and an ancestral castle, he was often busy running the Gloucester militia, which played an essential role in the defence of the kingdom during the Napoleonic Wars. He loved to wear the scarlet coat that proclaimed him colonel of this militia, the coat he is wearing in this portrait painted of him as a young man by Pompeo Batoni. And what a handsome young man he is. The 5th Earl was also an infamous Georgian rake, one of the most  dastardly libertines who ever ensnared an innocent female . He could have added lustre to his family name, but instead he made it notorious for all the wrong reasons. The scandal lingered on long after his death and had immense repercussions.  He really deserves to be classed along with the Lovelaces, Valmonts, Squire Thornhills, Wil...
Read more

I Thank Thee God, That I Have Lived, by Elizabeth Craven

Image
There is no doubt that Elizabeth Craven 's most popular poem is "I Thank Thee, God, That I Have Lived". It is a real chart-topper and has been re-printed in countless different editions and on websites. But did you know that it had even been made into a song? Y es, someone called Emma Topping has recorded it. You can download the song from various websites. I Thank Thee God, That I Have Lived (by Elizabeth Craven) Emma Topping From the Album  Poetry for Inspiration The poem is often attributed to "Elizabeth Countess of Craven" although that is a title Elizabeth never held. She was Lady Craven but never a Countess!                                               Elizabeth Craven sketch portrait c.1804 To find out more about Elizabeth Craven, her life and her writings, read  Vernon Press - Elizabeth Craven: Writer, Feminist and European...
Read more