John Parminter Esq of Fairlynch (1712 - 1784)

British (English) School. Oil painting on canvas, John Parminter Esq of Fairlynch (1712 -1780), British (English) School, 1750s. A painted oval, half-length portrait of an elderly man turned slightly towards the left and looking out at the spectator. A label on the back of the painting identifies the sitter as John Parminter, Jane Parminter's father. John Parminter wears a black coat with a black silk waistcoat and a white cravat with two translucent neck bands, the left band partly obscured by the neckline of the coat. He wears a white, mid-length wig. He was the second son of Richard Parminter (d.1761) father of Jane Parminter (1750-1811) who built A La Ronde with her cousin Mary in 1796. He was a successful Devon wine merchant who owned a glass factory in Lisbon, and was married to Jane Arboyne or Arbouin (1712-1773). They also also had two other daughters: Elizabeth (d. 1795) and Marrianne, who married Mr Frend. He owned a wine export business in Lisbon, where their daughter Jane was born in 1750. The great Lisbon earthquake of 1755 ruined his business, but he managed to market a form of quick-drying cement which was used to rebuild the city, and restored the family fortunes. He died on 23rd February 1780 and died in Braunton, North Devon. Original Parminter item, acquired from Mrs Tudor-Perkins. A La Ronde, Devon (Accredited Museum)