Portrait of A Lady of the Vavasours

At some time after 2003 a painting by Scottish artist Thomas Murray with the title “A Lady of the Vavasour Family” was sold at auction by Titan Fine Arts.  (https://www.sellingantiques.co.uk/752129/portrait-of-a-lady-of-the-vavasour-family-c1695-by-thomas-murray-16631735#:~:text=This%20title%20was%20created%20for,Murray%20(1663%2D1734)) 

In the description of the painting, it states:

“A label on the reverse states that it was the property of Sir H.M. Vavasour, Baronet (either Sir Henry Maghull Mervin Vavasour, 2nd Baronet (1768–1838), or his son Sir Henry Mervin Vavasour, 3rd Baronet (1814–1912). There have been five baronetcies created for persons with the surname Vavasour, three in the Baronetage of England and two in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. Sir H.M. Vavasour is a member of the Vavasour baronets, of Spaldington.”

The two possible owners identified above were both residents of Spaldington Hall at some stage and it is reasonable to assume that the portrait, at one time, hung there. The obvious question arises, can we identify the sitter?

The artist, Thomas Murray, was born in 1663 and died in 1735. If we assume that he began his professional career at age 20 then the portrait must have been painted between 1683 and 1735. The sitter would seem to be at least 20 years of age so we should be looking for a lady born into the Vavasour family between 1663 and 1715.

The Lord of the Manor in Spaldington at this time was Thomas Vavasour (b 1636, d 1679). He married Dorothy Leigh at some time after 1656. They only had one child, Mary, who was born in 1666. Although we do not have a date of birth for Dorothy, given Mary’s date of birth it is almost certain that she was born no later than 1650 which would rule her out of contention. As Thomas and Dorothy had no male heir the Spaldington estate passed down to Mary.  

In 1680, Mary married Sir Ralph Assheton of Middleton, Lancashire. After their marriage it would seem that they resided in the ancestral Assheton home back in Lancashire, as Mary was buried in Middleton Church when she died in 1694.  So, with no other female Vavasours fitting the date range we can assume that the portrait was of Mary Vavasour, possibly before her marriage. With the estate now in the hands of Lancashire landowners, how did Mary’s portrait end up back in Spaldington?

On 22nd March 2004 a painting of Sir Ralph Assheton was sold at auction by Bonhams Fine Arts. The portrait was by Mary Beale, a celebrated artist of the time and credited as being one of the first female professional artists.  A reproduction of this portrait may be found here:  https://www.niceartgallery.com/Mary-Beale/A-Portrait-Of-Sir-Ralph-Assheton-Within-A-Painted-Sculpted-Oval-oil-painting.html .

Ralph and Mary had 8 children, 6 girls and 2 boys. Both boys died young and on the death of Ralph in 1716 the estate was passed down to the eldest daughter, Anne.  Anne was already married by this time to Humphrey Trafford, heir of another large landowning Lancashire family. Humphrey and Anne had 7 children. The eldest son, also called Humphrey, inherited the estates of his mother and father when Humphrey senior died in 1748.

When Humphrey junior died in 1779 his will was proved in York and contains a very interesting bequest.

It would seem that Humphrey junior bequeathed his Spaldington estates to his niece, Ann Assheton Nooth (nee Yates) along with portraits of his grandparents Sir Ralph Ashton and his lady. Could these be the two portraits mentioned above?  As part of the inheritance Henry Nooth, husband of Ann, had to agree to take on the name and arms of the Vavasour family and therefore became Henry Vavasour. Henry and Ann had 2 children, Edward and Henry Maghull Mervyn Vavasour, one of the two possible owners of A Lady of the Vavasours!

Many thanks to our Chairman, Gary Tavender, for this excellent piece of detective work!