Paul Sandby, R.A. 1730-1809

Benjamin Booth;
by descent to Marianne Ford, née Booth, wife of Sir Richard Ford;
by descent to the present owner 

Benjamin Booth, who once owned the present watercolour, was a friend of Sandby's.  He was an American merchant who left New York after the American War of Independence and moved to London.  He had started his career as a clerk, later opening his own counting house in the City where he traded as a haberdasher.  His success depended upon a new and efficient system of book-keeping and he published a book based on his findings in 1789. His eldest son Richard was an accomplished watercolourist and is said to have studied under Sandby.

Benjamin Booth's daughter, Marianne, married Sir Richard Ford in 1794. Sir Richard Ford was himself an art collector and, combined with Marianne's inheritance, their collection was substantial. (See Walpole Society, 'The Ford Collection', 1998, Vol. LX. Ford I.)