Robert Healy, Irish (1743-1771) “Portrait of Mrs. Cradock,...

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€8,000 - €10,000

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Robert Healy, Irish (1743-1771)

“Portrait of Mrs. Cradock, mother of Sir John Cradock”
grisaille pastel drawing on paper signed l.l.
bears label on reverse “Mrs Cradock mother of Sir John Cradock, afterwards Lord Howden, who died 1859. Mrs Cradock died about 1810. . . drawn by Healy”

A delicate grisaille drawing in chalks or pastels by Robert Healy, this work depicts Mary Cradock wearing a long dark dress, a shawl loosely draped around her shoulders and carrying an umbrella. As with most of Robert Healy’s portraits, the pose is formal and reserved, with Mary Cradock depicted standing in a woodland setting.

Born in 1730, the daughter of William and Mary Balydwin, Mary married firstly Richard St. George, a Lieutenant Colonel in the 8th Dragoons, with whom she had two children. After Richard’s death from consumption in 1757, she married John Cradock, an English churchman who had accompanied the Duke of Bedford to Ireland, and was appointed Archbishop of Dublin in 1772. The couple lived at Henrietta Street, Dublin. Their son, John Francis Cradock, 1st Baron Howden (1759-1839), was a professional soldier who became a Major-General in the British Army, fought at the Battle of Vinegar Hill in 1798, served in the Mediterranean and was Governor of Gibraltar, and later the Cape Colony. In 1820 he changed his name to Caradoc. After the death of her husband, Mary resided at 8 Alfred Street, Walcot, near Bath, where she died in 1819. She is buried at Bath Abbey.
Dr. Peter Murray 2022

Provenance: Oldtown, Naas, Co. Kildare