6128

Study portrait

Marchioness of Londonderry, née Lady Theresa Susey Helen Chetwynd-Talbot 1912

Head and shoulders in three-quarter profile to the right, wearing drop earrings, a black choker and three strands of pearls, her dark hair pinned up in a chignon, a stole just indicated

Oil on board, 85.8 x 67.3 cm (33 ¾ x 26 ½ in.)

Inscribed lower right: P.A. de László / 1912 - X. [pencil]

Laib L6819 (55) / C29 (33):  Unidentified woman

NPG 1903-1914 Album, p. 75

NPG 1912-1916 Album, p. 3, where labeled The Marchioness of Londonderry 

Private Collection

In the present study portrait de László depicted the Marchioness of Londonderry almost in profile to the left, with a deep décolletage. Her dominant presence, regal gaze and black choker elongating her neck combined with the delicate shadow behind the figure all serve to emphasize Lady Londonderry’s aristocratic hauteur. The same year, de László painted his sitter again in a very similar pose, but in profile to the left [111400]. In 1909 she was painted by Sargent in a comparable attitude. Lucy de László’s diary notes that the artist painted the picture at Londonderry House rather than in his own studio.

Lady Theresa Susey Helen Chetwynd-Talbot, known as ‘Nellie’ to her friends and Guy in the family, was the eldest daughter of the 19th Earl of Shrewsbury, was born on 6 June 1856 at the family home, Inglestone Hall, Shropshire. On 2 October 1875 she married Charles Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, later 6th Marquess of Londonderry and thereafter lived mainly at Wynyard Park, Stockton-on-Tees. There were two children of the marriage, Helen Mary Theresa (born 1876) and Charles Stewart Henry (born 1878) [6136], who succeeded as 7th Marquess. A younger son died in 1899.

A strong-willed woman with a great character, the Marchioness of Londonderry became one of the leading hostesses of the Edwardian era presiding over Londonderry House in Park Lane. She was much involved in the political life of her time to the extent a woman could be. A patron of many rising conservative politicians, she advanced her ideas through their agency (notably with Andrew Bonar Law), using all her influence to have an impact on politics.  Faithful to the Unionist engagement of the Londonderry family, she became the first president of the Ulster Women’s Unionist Council, but the death of her husband in 1915 resulted in the inevitable decline of her influence in social and political circles.

In her autobiography the sitter’s daughter-in-law, Lady Castlereagh [6142], recounted an incident involving her son Robin Vane-Tempest Stewart [6152], and Lady Londonderry during the Coronation of George V: “time hung heavily on Robin’s hands. Other pages, older boys, were close at hand. They started a little horse-play, and before they could be stopped Robin kicked off his shoe, aiming it at another boy. It shot past the boy and just skimmed the ear and coronet of an aged Peeress, falling with a clatter on the Abbey floor some distance away. Her enraged spouse advanced on Robin, whose cheeks now matched the colour of his coat. The Peer was intent on administering a sound box on the ears of the culprit when Lady Londonderry bore down on both like an angry swan, swept Robin into the folds of her robe, and withered up the aged Peer with a scornful look from her proud and regal head - after which every one laughed, and Robin was bundled into the State coach and taken home.”^[1] 

She was well known in racing circles. Writing of her in Men and Horses I Have Known George Lambton said that she “knew as much and more about a horse than most men.” De László’s friend the Duke of Portland [6277] described Lord and Lady Londonderry in his Memoirs of Racing and Hunting. He wrote: “Lady Londonderry became quite an expert in her knowledge of pedigrees and in the practical management of a stud farm and racing stable. I am afraid, however, that [the Londonderrys’] luck on the turf never quite equalled their zest and keenness.”^[2]  She also had a reputation as a tipster and wrote articles under a nom de plume, articles about the family’s racehorses though never publishing. Lady Londonderry died on 16 March 1919 at 5 Carlton House Terrace, her home in London, a victim of the Spanish influenza epidemic.

EXHIBITED:        

•Christie’s, King Street, London, A Brush with Grandeur, 6-22 January 2004, no. 51

LITERATURE:        

•De Laszlo, Sandra, ed., & Christopher Wentworth-Stanley, asst. ed., A Brush with Grandeur, Paul Holberton publishing, London 2004, p. 116, ill.

•Field, Katherine ed., Transcribed by Susan de Laszlo, The Diaries of Lucy de László Volume I: (1890-1913), de Laszlo Archive Trust, 2019, p. 192

•László, Lucy de, 1911 diary, private collection, 11 September entry, p. 77

CC & CWS 2008

KF 2018