Studio portrait of Mary Howard and sons, c1887

An exceptionally rare photograph of Mary Emily Howard and her two eldest children by Henry 5th Viscount Bolingbroke who she later married to become the last Viscountess to reside at Lydiard Park.

The boys are Henry Mildmay St.John (b1882) and Charles Reginald St. John (b. 1885).

This is an important discovery in the private collection of family memorabilia owned by Nicholas St.John, given that no photographs of the young boys appear in the St. John family albums at Lydiard House.

In the 1880s Mary Howard and the 5th Viscount lived in Bath under the assumed names of Mr and Mrs Wilson. The boys were privately educated by tutors before attending Newbury Grammar School in Berkshire.