Lot 141
SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE P.R.A. (1769-1830)
HALF LENGTH PORTRAIT OF SIR GEORGE CORNEWALL, 2ND BT.
Auction: 21 July 2004 at 11:30 BST
Description
SOLD FOR £32,000
oil on canvas
Dimensions
75cm x 62cm
Footnote
Provenance:
Purchased from J Leger & Son, 13 Old Bond Street, London, 18 July 1947.
From the collection of Sir Geoffrey Cornewall, 6th Bt., B. A.
Literature:
Kenneth Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence - A Complete Catalogue of the Oil Paintings, 1986, p173, no. 211
Sir George Cornewall (1806-1863) was a renowned British statesman and man of letters. After graduating from Oxford in 1828, with a degree in classics and mathematics, he was called to the bar in 1831. In 1833 he undertook his first public work as commissioner inquiring on the condition of the poor Irish residing in England. His seminal 'Essay on the Origin and Foundation of the Romance Languages' was published in 1835. He married Lady Theresa Lister, sister of Lord Clarendon, in 1844.
In 1847 he entered parliament as a Liberal, becoming Financial Secretary to the Treasury in 1850. From 1852-55 he left politics to edit the Edinburgh Review, before returning and holding a succession of cabinet posts: Chancellor of the Exchequer (1855-58), Home Secretary (1859-61), and War Office (1861-63). In his public life he was distinguished, as Lord Aberdeen noted, for his candour, moderation and love of life.