Lot 141: Portrait of Sir John Conroy, 1st Bt. (1786-1854), three-quarter-length, standing in the uniform of the Royal Artillery, holding a plumed helmet in his right hand, by a pillar

Henry William Pickersgill, R.A. (London 1782-1875) Portrait of Sir John Conroy, 1st Bt. (1786-1854), three-quarter-length, standing in the uniform of the Royal Artillery, holding a plumed helmet in his right hand, by a pillar with an extensive old handwritten biographical inscription listing the sitter's various Orders 'Sir John Conroy, Bart, Pickersgill Pinxit Knight Commander, of the Guelphic, Order, Knight Commander of St Bento, D., airs of Portugal, Grand Cross, of the Saxon Order, of Ernestine Grand Cross of the tower & Sword of Portugal. Nat. 1876. Ob. 1854. etc.' (on back of canvas) oil on unlined canvas 56 x 44 in. (142.4 x 111.4 cm.)

London, Royal Academy, 1837, no.72.

Sir John Ponsonby Conroy, 1st Bt.
Sir Edward Conroy, 2nd Bt.

THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN (LOTS 115, 117, 140, 141 AND 176)


The sitter was born in 1786 at Maes-y-castell, Caerhun, Caernarvonshire, the eldest son of John Ponsonby Conroy (1759-1797), barrister, and his wife, Margaret, daughter of Francis Vernon Wilson. He was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1803. In 1808 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Major General Fisher R.E. In 1809 he was appointed a Staff Officer to Major General Fisher in Ireland, and later in 1812, he became A.D.C. to Major General Fisher in his new appointment as Commanding Royal Engineer at Portsmouth. Fisher died in 1814 but through his friendship with the Duke of Kent, Conroy was eventually appointed Equerry to the Duke of Kent in 1817. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Guelphic Order by George IV in 1827. He died in March 1854.

In the present portrait the sitter wears the uniform of a junior officer of the Royal Artillery on the unemployed list, denoted by the lack of gold lace on the coatee, as detailed in 1833. The determining factor for this date is the wearing of dark blue trousers; before 1833 they had been blue-grey. He wears a court sword, given by King George III to to his son, the Duke of Kent, after whose death it was given to Sir John Conroy.
We are grateful to Colonel Walton for his assistance with this catalogue entry.