. English: Admiral Francis Holburne, 1704-71, and his son, Sir Francis, 4th Baronet, 1752-1820 A three-quarter-length portrait, full face, wearing flag officer's undress uniform of 1748–67 and a tie wig. His right hand is round the shoulders of his young son, Francis (1752–1820), who leans on an anchor fluke facing to the left. Facing forwards and looking to the left, the boy wears a midshipman's uniform with a three-cornered hat and leather gloves. The portrait was started after May 1755 and was initially intended to be head and shoulders of Holburne alone. In 1757 the canvas was extended on
. English: Admiral Francis Holburne, 1704-71, and his son, Sir Francis, 4th Baronet, 1752-1820 A three-quarter-length portrait, full face, wearing flag officer's undress uniform of 1748–67 and a tie wig. His right hand is round the shoulders of his young son, Francis (1752–1820), who leans on an anchor fluke facing to the left. Facing forwards and looking to the left, the boy wears a midshipman's uniform with a three-cornered hat and leather gloves. The portrait was started after May 1755 and was initially intended to be head and shoulders of Holburne alone. In 1757 the canvas was extended on the left and bottom to include the child, who was Holburne’s only son (though he had both an elder and younger daughter, both of whom survived to marry well). The portrait was thus fitted around Holburne's naval commitments, since in 1755 he went with reinforcements to America, with Boscawen and Loudon, and two years later sat on Byng's court-martial. He was for eight years Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth, was made Rear-Admiral of England in 1770 and was briefly Governor of Greenwich Hospital in 1771. At the same time he was MP for Plymouth , 1768-71. The Holburne family connections are of some significance. The Admiral was second son of Sir James Holburne of Menstrie, created a Baronet of Nova Scotia in 1706: his elder brother, James, (d. 1758) became second baronet. The latter’s eldest son, also James, became a Royal Naval lieutenant in 1745 but was killed commanding the sloop ‘Dispatch’ in 1756. It was therefore the second son, Alexander, who became third baronet in 1758, a year after he too was commissioned as a naval lieutenant. He rose to captain in 1763 and it was on his death in January 1772 that his cousin Francis (the Admiral’s son) became fourth baronet at the age of nineteen. In the present portrait, Francis is at shown aged six at most, which suggests his midshipman’s uniform is either one made for him by his proud father, or simply painted in by
Size: 1987px × 2515px
Photo credit: © The Picture Art Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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