Lord John Augustus Hervey (1757-1796)

Thomas Gainsborough RA (Sudbury 1727 - London 1788). Oil painting on canvas, Lord John Augustus Hervey (1757-1796) by Thomas Gainsborough RA (Sudbury 1727 - London 1788), circa 1779. Full-length portrait of a man in naval uniform, facing slightly left, standing on a sea-shore, leaning against a cannon which points out to sea; on the cannon rests his cocked hat in dark blue edged with gold braid; his uniform consists of a dark blue cut-away coat edged with gold braid, gilt buttons on the sleeves and facing lapels, light greyish waistcoat with gilt buttons down the front, and matching knee-length breeches, white stockings, and black shoes with gilt buckles; under his left arm a telescope, in his right hand a folded document with a broken red seal; a small dog (called ‘Twitchet’ [named after his Admiral] or ‘Twitcher’ [after ‘Jemmy Twitcher’, the name of the highwayman in The Beggar’s Opera, which became the sobriquet of John, 4th Earl of Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty?]) is seated on the ground beside him on the left-hand side. Background: sea beyond, with a ship in the distance, overcast sky. Second, but eldest surviving son of Frederick, 4th Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry (1730-1803); 1780, Captain R.N.; succeeded Horace Mann as Envoy at Florence, 1787/8-93/4, where he flaunted public opinion by living with Lady Anne Hatton and later insulted the Grand Duke of Tuscany, which in 1793/4 led to his recall from his position as envoy. He married Elizabeth Drummond, daughter of Colin Drummond of Megginch, at Quebec in 1779, and was the father of Elizabeth Catherine Caroline Hervey, later Mrs Charles Rose Ellis, mother of the 6th Lord Howard de Walden. He died at sea before his father and so never inherited Ickworth. Ickworth, Suffolk (Accredited Museum)