Welcome to Down County Museum
The Gaol |
|
News |
|
Register with us |
|
Publications | Down Survey | 2001 Issue Contents Keeping
it in the family: the Perceval Maxwell portraits in Down County
Museum In 1995 Down County Museum was fortunate to acquire three portraits of members of the Perceval Maxwell family, whose name has long been associated with the estate of Finnebrogue, Downpatrick.1 Indeed, the museum has been lucky on two counts; not only were the family one of the leading in the county, the portraits themselves, spanning three generations, are a fascinating symbol of continuity in the changing world of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. All three paintings came from Finnebrogue. The earliest of the works, a portrait of Dr Robert Perceval (1756-1839) was executed by William Gillard (fl 1831-76), an English portrait and landscape painter who worked in Belfast and Dublin at various points between 1837 and 1876. Another version of the picture, likewise by Gillard, is in the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in Dublin.2 Both portraits are dated 1844 and were obviously painted posthumously, probably from a miniature, which would help explain their rather lifeless quality. The fact that the Dublin picture was presented to the college by another member of the medical profession, DR Charles Philip Croker, in 1844, indicates that it may have been a presentation portrait, paid for by subscriptions from friends and public.3 With such presentation pieces, additional versions were also often painted for the sitter's family This was almost certainly the case in this instance.
Perceval, a native of Dublin, had a distinguished medical career.4 After attending Trinity College, Dublin and Edinburgh University, he spent a few years on the Continent before returning to Dublin in 1783, to take up a position as lecturer in chemistry at Trinity. In 1785 he became the first professor of chemistry at the university. In the same year he also helped found the Royal Irish
Academy, of which body he acted as secretary for a lengthy period. Likewise in 1785 he was involved with the establishment of the Dublin General Dispensary and from that point, began to devote considerable time and money to medical and other charities. Indeed, such was the extent of his work in this line that the Dictionary of National Biography maintains that his claim to fame rests more on his philanthropic pursuits than on his career in medicine. Be that as it may, in 1799 he was elected president of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland but held the post for only a brief spell, on account of his professorship at Trinity. He was subsequently elected an honorary fellow instead. In 1819 he was appointed physician-general to the forces in Ireland. Besides his twin pursuits of medicine and philanthropy, he was interested in theology and devoted his latter years to its study. By his marriage to Anne Brereton in 1786, he had one son, Rev William Perceval of Kilmore Hill, county Waterford, who in turn married Anne, eldest daughter of John Waring Maxwell of Finnebrogue, County Down, in 1809. The estate of Finnebrogue, bordered by the Quoile River and Strangford Lough, had been let in perpetuity to Henry Maxwell by Thomas Cromwell, 1 st Earl of Ardglass, in 1628.5 However, the Maxwell family, who came originally from the Scottish Lowlands, do not seem to have taken up residence until the late seventeenth century, as the first mention of a Maxwell of Finnebrogue, is on a lease of 1699, granted by Henry's grandson another Henry. It seems likely that the house was built, or that the family moved into it, between 1686 and 1699, as the younger Henry succeeded to the estate in the former year. He died in 1730 and was succeeded by his second son, Robert (died 1769), who married three times: Anne Ward, younger daughter of Robert Ward of Strangford, County Down; Mary, eldest daughter of William Montgomery of Greyabbey, County Down; his cousin Anne Maxwell, second daughter of Rev John Maxwell of Falkland, county Monaghan. This third marriage produced four sons and two daughters: Robert, William, Edward, Isabella, John and Dorothea.6 Sadly for the family, only two of the six survived to the age of twenty, namely Edward and Dorothea. In yet another family tragedy, Edward died in 1792, aged only twenty, a week after his marriage to a Miss Herbert, leaving Dorothea to succeed to Finnebrogue and a second estate, at Groomsport, County Down.7 She thus became the first of a number of heiresses in this complicated family history. Her husband (who was also her cousin), John Waring of Waringstown, in the same county, whom she had married in 1783, assumed the additional surname of Maxwell on her succession to the estates. John Waring Maxwell, as he became, had served in the regular army during the 1780s. During the 1790s, he entered into the militia and yeomanry responsibilities of his new position, that of master of Finnebrogue, and assumed the Lt Colonelcy of the Downshire Militia. He also became Captain of the Downpatrick Yeomanry. Sadly for Dorothea, he was to die in 1802, leaving her to face forty years of widowhood. The couple had nine children: John, who died in infancy; Richard, who died aged fourteen; Anne, who, as already mentioned above, married Rev William Perceval (of which more later); John, who succeeded to the estates; Robert; Sarah; Edward, who died young; Henry, who also died young and Dorothea Maria.8 Dorothea appears to have been an interesting individual, with an enterprising streak. According to the Archaeological Survey of County Down, one of her major achievements was to carry out an extensive restoration programme at Finnebrogue in 1795.9 Details of the extent of her work can be found in the above-mentioned publication. She died in 1842. Dorothea's third son, John Waring Maxwell (17881869), whose portrait is discussed below, succeeded to the estates as a minor in 1802. Until 1817, he took no part in the management of his properties, being on active service in the regular army, as his father had been. In that year, however, he married Madelina Ker, sister of David Ker of Portavo, Donaghadee and a significant heiress, who brought him cash and, in 1823, a property in the City of London. Once married, he devoted his energies to his inheritance and became well known and respected as ,a farmer and landlord. As a farmer, he strove to be the best in his line, purchasing the latest equipment, erecting magnificent barns and building up a renowned herd of purebred shorthorn cattle. The extent of his enterprise and go-ahead attitude can be seen in the fact that, in his day, Finnebrogue employed seventy-five full-time staff and nearly two hundred labourers, a large workforce by any reckoning. A considerate and pragmatic landlord, he provided rent abatements where necessary, financing for agricultural improvements and compensation to departing tenants for improvements made. Besides these pursuits of farmer and landlord, he was deeply involved in religious and local politics, being chairman of Down Protestant Association, a high-ranking member of the Orange Order and Conservative MP for Downpatrick in the years 182030 and 1832-35. He also played a prominent role in the County Down election of 1852. The portrait of Maxwell, though regrettably unattributed at present, is of considerably high quality and is the work of a professional painter. However, whilst the artist is unknown, the picture was almost certainly not executed in Belfast, as there was no one in town producing portraits of such an impressive standard. Probably by a Dublin or London artist and dateable to around 1850, when Maxwell was in his early sixties, the picture, unusually, shows him in casual daydress and not in the more formal black suit customary in portraiture of the time. With his 'tweedy' attire, steelygrey locks and unposed demeanour, he looks every inch the successful landowner and farmer, seated comfortably in his estate office or study. Furthermore, his direct gaze and confident air suggests a man at ease with the public, a person used to the hurly-burly of politics. The picture's informality indicates that it was always intended for the family home. As Maxwell and Madelina had no children, Maxwell's nephew Robert Perceval (1813-1905), eldest son of Rev William Perceval and Anne Waring Maxwell and grandson of DR Robert Perceval, became his heir10. In July 1839 Robert assumed the additional surname of Maxwell, a change perhaps prompted by his forthcoming marriage the following September to Helena Moore, daughter of William Moore of Moore Hill, County Waterford. Robert Perceval Maxwell and his new bride settled at Moore Hill, where they resided until 1848, then moved to Groomsport House, which remained their home until Maxwell's death in 1869. They had twelve children.11 On succeeding to the Maxwell properties, Perceval Maxwell became the master of substantial holdings: 8,469 statute acres in County Down, comprising the Finnebrogue and Groomsport estates; other properties at Comber; Waringstown; Killyfaddy, near Clogher, County Tyrone; Bellewstown, Duleek, County Meath and London. However, this was not all, for Helena, prior to this, had brought sizeable estates to the marriage, as the heir to her brother William on his death in 1856: 2,251 acres in County Waterford; 2,353 acres in County Tipperary; forty acres of urban property in the City of London and the leasehold of land near Fermoy, county Cork. In 1860, she had also inherited her aunt's estate of 866 acres at Kilbarry, County Cork. Thus, by 1870, Perceval Maxwell owned 8,469 statute acres in the north of Ireland and 6,644 in the south, a total of 15,113 statute acres, with a rental income of £13,881. Besides these Irish lands and the London property, there was also Amherst Island in Ontario, Canada, which he had purchased in 1857. The management of estates in three countries - Ireland, England and Canada - necessitated the setting up of a disciplined business plan. This Perceval Maxwell proceeded to do, by dividing his property into four administrative units: northern Ireland including Meath; southern Ireland; London; Canada. Each unit had an agent, sub-agents or bailiffs, a firm of solicitors and a bank. A chief agent presided over these administrative units from the main estate office at Finnebrogue. Perceval Maxwell chose as agents his brothers and a cousin, thereby providing not only employment for family members but also guaranteeing a high degree of loyalty and a strong incentive to work on account of family ties.12 Although his rental income declined over the years, he survived the economic turbulence of the 1870s and 1880s and the tensions of the Land War by being prudent and maintaining good relations with his tenants. Also, his Canadian property afforded a diversity of income and provided security. Such was the scale of his financial success that by the time of his death, he was described as one of the wealthiest commoners in Ireland. As an example of his economic commonsense, he reduced the labour bill at Finnebrogue by half when he took over the estate on John Waring Maxwell's death; the property was turned from a farming showpiece into a streamlined organisation. A particularly noticeable change were the Harvest Home celebrations, which during Maxwell's time had been daylong feasts of extravagance, with over 200 diners and dancing until the small hours. Perceval Maxwell's Harvest Homes were much more staid affairs, with a hymn beforehand, supper served only to the labourers, with their families joining the party afterwards, cider provided instead of porter and the dancing finishing at 10.30! An unassuming man, seemingly the anthesis of his uncle John, he avoided public office, speech making and the like, whilst nevertheless belonging to Down Protestant Association and the Orange Order. He also took part in the magisterial offices expected of a person in his position and was a high sheriff and justice of the peace.
His portrait, painted by Mrs Emily C Way in 1899, is of a much lower standard than John Waring Maxwell's, lacking its naturalness and animation. Mrs Way, a littleknown portrait painter who lived in London, was a member and occasional exhibitor at the Belfast Art Society between 1896 and 1907.13 It is possible that she actually visited Belfast to seek commissions as an example of her work, painted in 1896, is in the Ulster Museum, whilst another, dated 1897, is in the collection of the Belfast Harbour Commissioners. Though the portrait appears rather dull, it merits further scrutiny, as it is highly revealing of the sitter's character. Of reserved disposition in reality, Perceval Maxwell, in his painted image, does not engage the spectator in the eye, as his more gregarious uncle had done; instead, he remains isolated within his own private world, intent upon his papers. In his sober black suit, he seems much more the businessman than his uncle; indeed, the papers he holds, headed 'Harkness and Sons' may well be a financial report of some kind. It is perhaps not too far-fetched to say that his prudent streak showed in the choice of artist, for Mrs Way's charges would probably have been less than those of a better-known painter. Whilst his more extravagant uncle went for an artist of quality, Perceval Maxwell (or his family) did not. On his death in 1905, Finnebrogue and Groomsport passed to his grandson, Lt Col the Rt Hon Robert David Perceval Maxwell, whilst the estates in County Waterford went to his second son, William. Henry, his twelfth child, inherited Amherst Island, parts of which were sold off over the years, the last sale taking place in 1957. The Finnebrogue demesne and home farm remained in family ownership until the death of Perceval Maxwell's greatgrandson, Major John Robert Perceval Maxwell in 1963. Finnebrogue House finally passed out of the family's possession in 1996, the end of an era and of a remarkable line of continuity from generation to generation. DR Eileen Black is a Curator of Fine Art in the Ulster Museum, Belfast. Amongst her numerous publications are catalogues of the museum's Irish oil paintings, 1572-1900 and of the fine art collections of Queen's University and the Belfast Harbour Commissioners.
Notes and References
|
|
|