PMP2000 > Places > Charnwood History

FAMOUS PEOPLE

LEMUEL FRANCIS ABBOTT (1760-1802)
The distinguished eighteenth century portrait painter LEMUEL FRANCIS ABBOTT (1760-1802) was born in ANSTEY. He was the son of REV LEMUEL ABBOTT, ANSTEY's curate from 1756 to 1773. He left the village for London at the age of 14 and soon achieved renown for painting portraits of many eminent people. In 1797 he painted LORD NELSON and, of more local importance, he painted two portraits of WILLIAM POCHIN of BARKBY HALL. His death at the age of 42 came after four years of insanity.

BEN MARSHALL (1768-1835)
BEN MARSHALL was one of the greatest sporting painters of his age and was born in SEAGRAVE in 1768. He was one of eight children born to Charles and Elizabeth Marshall but very little is known of his early life. It is known that he worked as a school teacher, married Mary Saunders of Ratby in 1789 and moved to London. WILLIAM POCHIN of BARKBY HALL had recommended him to LEMUEL FRANCIS ABBOTT and MARSHALL studied with him for a time.

His career as a sporting painter began to take off in London and in 1800 he had his first exhibition at the Royal Academy. JOHN FERNELEY was apprenticed with him for a few years and in 1806, MARSHALL met and befriended one of Leicestershire's most famous men - DANIEL LAMBERT - who was visiting the capital. MARSHALL painted a portrait of LAMBERT which is now owned by Leicestershire Museums and even named his son LAMBERT after his friend. Unfortunately the baby died within the year but another son, born in 1809, was also named LAMBERT. There were also four other MARSHALL children - CHARLES (born 1794); MARY (born 1797); ANN (born 1803 and ELIZABETH (born 1812).

Just before 1812, MARSHALL left London for Newmarket to study horses and make contact with the people who were fast becoming his clients. While living here, in 1819, he was badly injured when the Leeds Mail on which he was travelling crashed, leaving him unable to work for months. The crash permanently affected his abilities and in his later years he painted less and less, becoming a sporting journalists for, among others, "THE SPORTING MAGAZINE". But this severely affected his income and the later years of his life were passed in financial difficulties.

In 1825, MARSHALL returned to live in London where he attempted to launch his son LAMBERT as a sporting painter. But, although he undoubtedly had talent, LAMBERT was never very successful. BEN's health seriously declined following the deaths of his wife in 1827 and his daughter ELIZABETH, who was tragically burned to death in front of him.

BEN MARSHALL died on July 24th 1835 at the age of 66 and was buried in Bethnal Green churchyard, although no tombstone or memorial remains. He was remembered in 1967, however, when an exhibition of his work was held at the Leicester Art Gallery.

JOHN FERNELEY (1782-1860)
FERNELEY was born in THRUSSINGTON in 1782 and became a popular portrait painter in the early nineteenth century. He was the sixth son of a wheelwright and, as a young man, he painted pictures on the end boards of the wagons his father repaired. The DUKE OF RUTLAND encouraged his parents to send him to London and also offered him financial help to do so. So, in 1801, he did so and studied with BEN MARSHALL for three years. The two artists became great friends and FERNELEY would often visit him in London in later years.

By chance, he met THOMAS ASSHETON SMITH on a trip to Lincolnshire and it was he who persuaded FERNELEY to concentrate of sporting pictures rather than landscapes and portraits. SMITH became Master of the QUORN HUNT in 1806 and was FERNELEY'S first sporting sitter. Further commissions followed from LORD TAMWORTH at Staunton Harold and it was while working here in 1808 that he became ill. On medical advice, he spent that winter in Ireland where THE DUKE OF RUTLAND introduced him to the Irish aristocracy.

He returned to THRUSSINGTON in 1809 to marry SARAH KETTLE and made three more visits to Ireland before moving to MELTON in 1814. His house and studio here was on Scalford Road and was called ELGIN LODGE, sadly demolished in 1982.

Twenty of his paintings were exhibited by the Royal Academy between 1813 and 1853 and throughout all his career, he charged a constant fee - ten guineas for a horse portrait, seven guineas for a cow and between thirty and sixty guineas for a hunting group.

Several of his works now hang in the Leicestershire Art Gallery, including an equestrian portrait of the Grant family at Melton, painted in 1823. They also have the oil sketch for the large painting "THE QUORN AT QUENBY" (1823) and a painting of the Ferneley family pew at Melton Mowbray Parish Church. One shows him at his studio in ELGIN LODGE with his wife and six children. His painting of 'MELTON HORSE FAIR" now hangs at COUNTY HALL, GLENFIELD.

Two of his sons, JOHN (1814-62) and CLAUDE LORRAINE (1822-91) also became successful artists. FERNELEY's first wife dies in 1836 and in 1838 he married ANN ALLEN who bore him a son. She died in 1854.

In his final years, FERNELEY was looked after by daughter SARAH. He worked almost until his death, which occurred in June 1860 at the age of 78. He is described on his gravestone as an "animal painter".