Lot 19: Philip Jean (British, 1755-1802) Lady Frances-Jory Cooke (d.1796), wearing white fichu and black lace shawl, her powdered wig dressed with a white bandeau

Lady Frances-Jory Cooke (d.1796), wearing white fichu and black lace shawl, her powdered wig dressed with a white bandeau.
Gold frame, the reverse glazed to reveal plaited hair and with label inscribed with sitter's details.
Oval, 60mm (2 3/8in) high

Frances was the third child and youngest daughter of Sir John Lambert Middleton (1705-1768), 4th Baronet of Belsay Castle, Northumberland and his wife, Anne (d.1762), daughter of Sir Nathaniel Hodges. In 1770, she married, Sir George Cooke, 7th Baronet of Wheatley Hall (d.1823). They had ten children, two sons and eight daughters. Their eldest son died childless at the age of twenty-eight. Their second son, William Brian (1782-1851) joined the Foot Guards as an officer. In 1823 he married his first cousin, Isabella-Cecelia-Viviana (d.1869). She was the youngest daughter of Sir William Middleton (1738-1795), 5th Baronet of Belsay Castle. William inherited his father's title and became the 8th Baronet of Wheatley Hall that same year. Of their eight daughters, three remained unmarried. Upon the death of Frances-Jory Cooke, her husband married a widow, Mrs Hewett (née Farrer).