Global Encounters and the Archives: Britain’s Empire in the Age of Horace Walpole
Item
Portrait of General Henry Seymour Conway
Title
Portrait of General Henry Seymour Conway
Description
Henry Seymour Conway was Horace Walpole's first cousin. The two maintained a close lifelong friendship and correspondence. Conway's military and political activities put him at the center of Britain's imperial projects: his parliamentary career began in 1741; he was secretary of state under Rockingham and Chatham; and, after a long career in the army he rose to commander-in-chief of forces in 1782 and field marshall in 1793. The portrait on view descended through the sitter's family. It is a copy painted after a lost original that was requested by the people of Boston in 1765 to hang in Faneuil Hall in celebration of his support for repeal of the Stamp Act. Conway sent the portrait in 1767. Conway is depicted wearing a military breast plate and a sword under his red coat. In his left hand he holds an unidentified letter. He rests his right hand on the table where lies a manuscript copy of the Free Port Bill that opened the West Indian trade to Boston merchants and a copy of the bill for the repeal of the Stamp Act. A globe displays the western hemisphere highlighting Conway's imperial interests and activities in North America.Catalog Record
Henry Seymour Conway was Horace Walpole's first cousin. The two maintained a close lifelong friendship and correspondence. Conway's military and political activities put him at the center of Britain's imperial projects: his parliamentary career began in 1741; he was secretary of state under Rockingham and Chatham; and, after a long career in the army he rose to commander-in-chief of forces in 1782 and field marshall in 1793. The portrait on view descended through the sitter's family. It is a copy painted after a lost original that was requested by the people of Boston in 1765 to hang in Faneuil Hall in celebration of his support for repeal of the Stamp Act. Conway sent the portrait in 1767. Conway is depicted wearing a military breast plate and a sword under his red coat. In his left hand he holds an unidentified letter. He rests his right hand on the table where lies a manuscript copy of the Free Port Bill that opened the West Indian trade to Boston merchants and a copy of the bill for the repeal of the Stamp Act. A globe displays the western hemisphere highlighting Conway's imperial interests and activities in North America.
Catalog Record
Catalog Record
Contributor
Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University Library
Creator
Ranelagh Barrett
