Arthur Devis 1711-1787

The sitter was the son of Henry Brydges, 2nd Duke of Chandos and his first wife Mary, daughter of Charles Bruce, 3rd Earl of Ailesbury.  He was Grand Master of the Freemason's 1754-1757, and served as M.P. for Winchester (1754-1761) and for the County of Radnor (1761-1768).  He was a Lord of the Bedchamber 1760-1764 and Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire 1763-1764 and from 1791 to 1780.  In 1753 he married Margaret, daughter of John Nicol of Minchenden House.  She died in 1768, and in 1777 he married Anne daughter of Richard Gamon of Datchworthbury.

Gibbon described him as "a man of great sweetness of nature and good-breeding".  In his obituary in the Gentleman's Magazine he is described as a popular figure and "if he had any defects, they arose from the excess of amiable qualities; from a want of firmness and resolution".