Sir Martin Archer Shee, P.R.A. 1769-1850

full length, standing beside a memorial to Lord Nelson, wearing a blue coat with white breeches and waistcoat

The sitter was the second son of Humphrey Senhouse of Netherall, Cumberland, and his wife, Mary, daughter of Sir George Fleming, Bt. He was a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, and he married Elizabeth, daughter of Samson Wood, the Speaker of the Barbados Assembly. He purchased a plantation in Barbados where he grew indigo, and was eventually appointed Surveyor-General of Barbados. He had three sons, one of whom, Humphrey, became a Captain in the Royal Navy and was knighted in 1834. It is possible that Humphrey Senhouse, who had entered the Navy in 1797, fought alongside Nelson at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798. This would account for the commemorative column in the picture.