12921

Lady Royden, née Quenelda Mary Clegg 1925

Seated three-quarter length on an upholstered teal velvet armchair, wearing a high-necked black dress with a white collar, a large black hat, and a three-stranded pearl necklace, her left hand holding white gloves on her lap, her right over the arm of the chair

Oil on canvas, 127 x 101.5 cm (50 x 40 in.)

Inscribed lower left: de László / 1925.  I. 

Laib L12093 (771) / C23 (25)  

Sitters’ Book II, opp. f. 43: Quenelda M. Royden 4 Dec 1924

Private Collection

In an interview with Annie Quensel [111430], de László stated: “It is my task to find out the character of the model and transpose it to canvas. A portrait that does not show the model’s innermost being is a failure. The physical [appearance] itself is the least important; the personality inside the shell is the all-important.”^[1] His artistic ambition is manifest in this portrait of Lady Royden: he made no attempt to glamorise his sitter, but focused on her strong, inquisitive yet sympathetic expression. With her high-collared black dress, the attention of the viewer is drawn to her pale features, on to which the strongest light is cast. The dignity of her upright pose is softened by the graceful placing of her right arm on the arm of the chair.

According to a descendant of the sitter, when Lady Royden arrived at de László’s studio for her first sitting, she had just come from a funeral. The artist scorned the selection of clothes she had brought with her and said he wished to paint her just as she was. Her mourning dress is elegantly enhanced by her white gloves and three-string pearl necklace.^[2] 

The artist’s correspondence reveals that the portrait should have been executed in March 1924, but that sittings were postponed twice, first by the sitter,^[3] and then by de László, in December, because he was suffering from a severe toothache.^[4] It was finally painted during the first two weeks of January 1925, before Lord and Lady Royden’s departure for Scotland on 16th and their subsequent trip abroad.

On her return from her travels, Lady Royden sent an appreciative letter to de László: “I can never be sufficiently grateful to you for the work that has given my husband so much pleasure – he absolutely adores the portrait – he has got a very hunt-stained pink coat waiting for the day you fix for him to start sitting – which he hopes will be early in May if that is mutually convenient.”^[5] De László, it seems, never painted her husband,^[6] but in 1932, he painted her sister-in-law, Dr Maude Royden, in her academic robes [6809]. The artist’s fee for the present portrait was £1,050.^[7]

Quenelda Mary Clegg was born on 4 February 1873, one of the seven children of Harry Clegg, JP, DL, and his wife Sarah Chadwick Reddish, both of Plas Llanfair, Anglesey. She was brought up in Beaumaris, Anglesey. As a young woman she was not known for shyness: at a formal family dinner party, at the time of her engagement to Charles James Williamson (1871-1921),^[8] she was so infuriated when her formidable future father-in-law made disparaging remarks about her fiancé, that she stood up and left the table. She married Charles on 30 June 1897, and bore him two daughters, Marjorie (born 1898), and Quenelda (born 1903). They settled at Camp Hill in Woolton, Liverpool, but travelled extensively: in 1909, they joined Charles’s brother Harry in San Francisco, and returned to England on the Trans-Siberian Railway via St Petersburg and Berlin. In November 1914, the Williamsons converted their home into a military hospital and convalescent home, equipped at their own expense. Quenelda was offered the OBE in 1917 for her war work, but she declined the honour. Throughout her life, she remained heavily involved in philanthropic activities. On Charles’s sudden death from a heart attack in 1921, Camp Hill and its grounds were bequeathed to the Liverpool Corporation.

The following year, on 20 April 1922, she married Sir Thomas Royden (1871-1950), 2nd Baronet of Frankby, who had been best man at Quenelda’s marriage to Charles. His family had been major shipbuilders at Liverpool in the 19th century, and he was himself a leading figure in the town: he was the owner of the Indra Line and Chairman of the Cunard Line when the present portrait was painted. The couple lived at Rake Hall, Stanney, near Chester, as well as at 7 Hay Hill, London. In the mid-1920s, they also bought Tillypronie, a shooting lodge in Aberdeenshire at which Earl Haig, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, and Queen Mary were frequent guests. As her husband was a keen horseman, Quenelda took to hunting, riding side saddle, but she had a stronger interest in horse-racing and an even greater one in betting: she indulged in it all her life with the help of her butler Goodby. She and her husband were also keen sailors, both members of the Royal Yacht Squadron. In 1933, they moved to Brockwood Park in Hampshire, their interests being then more centered on London and the Solent. Following in the footsteps of Colonel Greenwood in the 19th century, she considerably enhanced the landscaping of the park.^[9] She had a great knowledge of trees, and kept a detailed diary of all her gardening activities and tree planting^[10] which is still used for reference. She was also an excellent shot, and only gave up shooting aged ninety. During the Second World War, her husband was involved in the war effort in London and in the railways, and they lived for a time in Watford in a property owned by the London Midland Scottish Railway.

Sir Thomas was created Baron Royden in 1944, and died six years later. As he was childless, the Barony expired and the baronetcy went to his younger brother. Lady Royden sold Tillypronie, but remained at Brockwood Park until 1956, when she sold the property. She subsequently rented a nearby estate, Empshott Grange, from Sir Jervoise Scott, but when Lady Royden was aged ninety, Lady Scott took over the house again. This did not set her back: at ninety-five, she was still pulling salmon out of the river Don on her holidays in Scotland. Conceding her balance was fallible, she was tied by rope to her chauffeur, who stood patiently on the bank while she fished. She died on 17 February 1969 at Ryecroft, in Liss, Hampshire, aged ninety-six. She was buried with her husband in the Royden family vault at Frankby, Cheshire.

LITERATURE:

•The Times, 21 June 1933

•The Nottingham Journal, 22 June 1933

•DLA082-0113, letter from de László to Sir Thomas Royden, 26 March 1924

•DLA082-0111, letter from Lady Royden to de László, 21 December 1924

•DLA082-0105, letter from Lady Royden to de László, 17 April 1925

CC 2008