Fete in Petworth Park, 1835 (oil on canvas)

It had been Lord Egremont’s (George O’Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl [1751-1837]) custom to feast the poor of the adjoining villages every winter. In 1834 he had been ill, but being determined to hold the dinner he postponed it until the following summer. There is an account of the occasion in Greville’s Diary. On 23 May 1834, Greville relates how he visited Petworth and saw “the finest feast that could be given”. Fifty-four tables each fifty feet long were placed in a semi-circle on the lawn before the house and two marquees were erected. Four thousand invitations were sent out but Lord Egremont threw open the gates to all who happened to be passing and it is probable that in the event 6,000 people attended. In the evening there were fireworks. The success of the fête must have led Lord Egremont to repeat it in the summer of 1835, when the present picture was painted.