Henrietta St John (1699-1756), Aged 2 years, (later Lady Luxborough)

Henrietta was born on July 15, 1699 in the midst of the squabbling St. John family, the only surviving daughter of Henry 1st Viscount St. John and his second wife Angelica Pelissary.

Henrietta spent her childhood summers in the old fashioned formal gardens at Lydiard Park where it is believed a love of gardening that would sustain her throughout her life took root. She would later transform the gardens at Barrell’s Hall, her husband’s family home in Warwickshire, where she planted snowdrops, primroses, polyanthus and violets which she described as “the beauties of childhood.”

Medium - oil on canvas

Measurements - H 76 x W 61

Transferred from the de Morgan Foundation, 2005