| Henry Wodehouse was the son of John Wodehouse, 2nd Baron Wodehouse of Kimberley, Norfolk and Charlotte Laura, only daughter and heiress of John Norris of Witton Park and Witchingham. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford and married in April 1825, Anne, daughter of Lt.-Col. Theophilus Thornhagh Gurdon of Letton, Norfolk. He was a Justice of the Peace (J.P.), Deputy Lieutenant for the county of Norfolk, a colonel in the East Norfolk Militia and High Steward of Norwich Cathedral but seems to have eschewed the political scene that so interested his father and grand-father. A keen rider, his premature death at the age of just 35 occurred due to a fall from his horse. The barony thus passed from his father to his eldest son, the future Earl of Kimberley, who served in high office under William Gladstone.
The Wodehouse family grew in prominence in Norfolk during the sixteenth century and in recognition of this were created baronets by James I in 1611. The house at Kimberley, Norfolk probably designed by William Talman was erected in 1712 by Sir Thomas Wodehouse, 4th Bt. At the instigation of the Prime Minister William Pitt, the younger, the 6th baronet, John was elevated to the peerage in 1797. The 4th Earl sold Kimberley Hall in 1958 and subsequently disposed of many of the inherited pictures and furnishings right up until his death in 2002. The famous writer P.G. Wodehouse was a scion of the family and Kimberley in South Africa was named after the 1st Earl.
The artist Francis Wilkin entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1815 and was encouraged by both Benjamin West and Sir Thomas Lawrence, whose influence is clearly seen in the portrait presented here. Finished around c.1823 Henry Wodehouse is depicted in the high fashions of the time, the style of hair and coat enabling a fairly precise dateline to be ascertained. Wilkin regularly exhibited until 1841 and had a distinguished clientele with some aristocrats commissioning many portraits of their extended families, such as Henry Paget, 1st Marquis of Anglesey.
He appears to have gained certain popularity by drawing portraits on a large scale in chalk; striking and grand these essentially monotone depictions of personality stand out as distinctive works. Perhaps influenced by Lawrence’s own drawings on canvas, that Wilkin produced a fair few indicates that there was a keen market for such pictures contrasted with his more conventional oils. He always framed these in the same type of “rich frame” made of gilt, plaster and oak which was noted by Sir Giles Isham in 1968, the first and only study written of Wilkin’s work. Examples can be found in country house collections including the Earls Spencer at Althorp, the Marquesses of Anglesey, the Marquesses of Sligo, Lord Raglan and several National Trust properties, including Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk. |
