Lot 65: Charles Shirreff (Scottish, circa 1750-circa 1809) Captain Thomas Penson (1764-1835), wearing red coatee with white facings and standing collar, white cross belt with gold belt plate, white chemise and black stock

Captain Thomas Penson (1764-1835), wearing red coatee with white facings and standing collar, white cross belt with gold belt plate, white chemise and black stock.
Gold frame, the reverse with blue glass border surrounding gilt-mounted aperture, glazed to reveal an oval ivory plaque on brown plaited hair, set with a flower of blond hair.
Oval, 73mm (2 7/8in) high
Provenance: The de Quincey family; Sotheby's, 6 July 1970, Lot 36

Thomas was the youngest of the four children of army officer Samuel Penson and his wife Sarah, from Algarkirk in Lincolnshire. His sister Elizabeth married Thomas Quincey, a textile importer from Fishtoft. She had four surviving children, the eldest of these was the notable Thomas de Quincey (1785–1859), a famous writer known for his work, 'Confessions of an Opium Eater'.

Thomas, like his brother Samuel, joined the East India Company Service. He was a Cadet in 1782, a Lieutenant in 1790 and a Captain by 1803 (possibly in the 11th Madras Native Infantry). He rose to the rank of Major in 1814, Lieutenant Colonel in 1818 and Colonel by 1829. During his military career, he was Superintendant of Army Buildings and later Civil Buildings. Throughout his unmarried life, he gave much financial and emotional support to his sister and nephew. The latter was oppressed by debt for most of his adult life owing to his opium addiction and generosity with his inheritance. Thomas is buried at the Holy Trinity Church in Cheltenham.