Dr Hannah Mawdsley from The National Trust's Ham House and Garden , is the third speaker in the London Luminaries virtual lecture series. Twelve historic organisations collaborating together to share our collective histories.
After Ham House survived a period of seclusion and retrenchment under his reclusive brother, Wilbraham Tollemache, 6th Earl of Dysart (1739-1821) sought to restore Ham House’s position as a locus of hospitality and cultivation. He returned much of the house and collection to its former seventeenth century splendour, as well as making his own mark through expanding both the estate and the collection. Queen Charlotte remarked after a visit to Ham in 1809 that it was ‘so fine a collection that to know and admire it as one ought to do, it would require many hours’. The 6th Earl was an enthusiastic supporter of the arts, himself a keen artist as well as a discerning collector of fine paintings. His patronage was extended to contemporary artists including Joshua Reynolds and John Constable with whom he developed close links. This support was continued after Wilbraham’s death by his sister and successor Louisa, 7th Countess of Dysart, who cultivated a close association with Constable and regularly invited him and his family to Ham.
Dr Hannah Mawdsley is Property Curator for the National Trust’s Ham House and Garden, a 17th century Jacobean mansion on the bank of the River Thames near Richmond, London. She regularly contributes as an historical expert for television and radio.
9 ноя 2021
