Lady (Margaret) Arden

Inscribed l.l.: Chatham/1810 and inscribed verso: 8t October 1810, watercolour over traces of pencil14 x 22.2 cm.; 5 1⁄2 x 8 3⁄4 inches Provenance Private collection, England; Martyn Gregory, British Watercolours and Drawings 1750-1900, May 2016, no. 2 This is a view from Gillingham Bridge, Chatham. The historic dockyard at Chatham was one of Britain’s most important naval Dockyards for over 400 years. The daughter of Sir Thomas Spencer Wilson, Bt. of Charlton in Kent, the artist was a pupil of Francis Towne in her youth. Her mother was a Cheney of Badger Hall, Shropshire, where Peter de Wint was a frequent visitor. Lady (Margaret) Arden was a pupil and a patron of David Cox. She married George Compton, Lord Arden (1756-1840) in 1787.