Portrait of Henry Pelham (c.1695-1754)
Circle of John Eccardt (d.1779)
Pelham was acknowledged as one of the most powerful statesmen of the eighteenth century, and earned the nickname ‘Henry the Ninth.’
Price:
£8,000
Materials:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
30 x 25 inches; 76.2 x 63.5 cm
Provenance:
Major Alan Rooke OBE, Wootton Lodge, Staffs. By descent to his nephew John Rooke, Stragglethorpe Hall, Lincs.
Henry Pelham was Prime Minister for ten years from 1743. Although his term in office was not as long as his friend and predecessor Robert Walpole, Pelham was acknowledged as one of the most powerful statesmen of the eighteenth century, and earned the nickname ‘Henry the Ninth.’ Though recognised as de facto Premier, and holding the office of First Lord of the Treasury, Pelham effectively shared power with his brother, Thomas Pelham Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne. Henry Pelham is best known for bringing stability to England’s foreign and domestic situation, first by crushing the Jacobite rebellion on 1745, and later by bringing peace with France through ending the war of the Austrian Succession in 1748.