John Closterman 1660-1711

By descent from the sitter to her son, William Jones of Ramsbury Manor;
By descent to Elizabeth, his daughter, who married Francis Burdett;
By descent to Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Bt, their son;
By descent to Sir Francis Burdett, 7th Bt., Ramsbury Manor, by whose executors sold, Sotheby's, 2nd December 1953, lot 55

The present picture and the following lot portray Mr and Mrs Richard Jones of Ramsbury Manor, Wiltshire.  These magnificent portraits hung at Ramsbury until 1953.

Ramsbury Manor was an elegant house built in Renaissance style between 1681-83 by Sir William Jones.  Robert Hooke, one of the principal assistants of Sir Christopher Wren, has long been attributed as the architect of the East and West elevations of the Manor, a theory supported by the numerous references to Sir William Jones in Hooke's diary (see Country Life, 23rd January 1975, pp.194-195).  The house was built on an earlier house constructed in 1560, which had belonged to the Earls of Pembroke, and from as early as the thirteenth century the Bishops of Salisbury had a park and a palace at Ramsbury Manor.

Sir William Jones was a talented barrister, and served as a KC, as well as Attorney-General, 1675-79.  On his death in 1682 the estate eventually passed to his nephew, Richard Jones (see next lot) who was returned as a Tory M.P. for Marlborough in 1712.

The estate then passed to their son, William Jones, whose son, was "cut off at the early age of 22 on 7th of April 1766 whilst on his Travels, at Besancon", and Ramsbury Manor eventually passed to his daughter, Elizabeth, who married Francis Burdett.  It was their son, Francis, 5th Bt., who inherited the baronetcy from his grandfather.  Sir Francis Burdett served as an M.P. for Boroughbridge in Yorkshire, and was considered a radical politician.  He was a reformist and a humanitarian, and campaigned on issues such as the abolition of slavery.  He also led the campaign for an independent enquiry into the Peterloo massacre.