Overall: 44cm (17.5in) x 65cm (25.5in)
Watercolour and gouache. A study for the Governor of Portsmouth’s Ball held in 1847 at Southsea in the King’s rooms decorated with heraldic and military insignia including the arms of the city of Portsmouth. Contained in glazed maple frame with period inscribed label applied verso, viz - ‘This picture … a large ball we … .. on taking the Command at Portsmouth. The ladies under the alcove are Lady FitzC and my daughter. I am in uniform with the blue ribbon. The ball was on the same night [24 February] as the Revolution … in Paris …[Lou]is Phillipe abdicated. / Frederick Fitzclarence’
The principal figure in the picture is Lieutenant-General Lord Frederick FitzClarence (1799- 1854); wearing the blue sash of a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order. He was the third illegitimate son of King William IV by his mistress Dorothea Jordan.
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FitzClarence was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards in 1814. Depending on which ever account one chooses, he was either the ‘incompetent royal bastard’ or ‘young officer well known for his gallantry and gentlemanly conduct’ who commanded the small detachment of Guards acting in support of the police in the arrest of the Cato Street conspirators in 1820. The arrest was not straightforward, and a scuffle ensued. Five of the would-be revolutionaries were later hanged and decapitated for their part in plotting to massacre the British cabinet while dining at Lord Harrowby’s house. With such a backstory it is perhaps no wonder that FitzClarence decided to note the Portsmouth ball was given on the night King Louis Phillipe of France was forced to abdicate by the mob.
In 1821 FitzClarence married Lady Augusta Boyle, the eldest daughter of the 4th Earl of Glasgow. They had two children; one of whom survived to adulthood, Lady Augusta Georgiana Frederica FitzClarence (1823-1855).
Frederick FitzClarence was promoted Colonel in the 36th (Herefordshire) Regiment, and in 1831 was granted the rank of a marquess' younger son by his father, King William IV, upon the latter's ascension to the throne. He became Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth and General Officer Commanding South-West District in 1847.
The London Evening Standard reported on the ball on 26 February 1848: ‘The Lieutenant Governor of Portsmouth, Major-General Lord Frederick and Lady Augusta Fitzclarence, gave a ball and supper, last evening, to between 500 and 600 persons, including the nobility, the officers of the army and navy, and the elite of the resident inhabitants of this vicinity. The officers of the Guards, stationed at Chichester, and the officers of the 9th and 62nd Regiments, stationed at Winchester, were also present. It was held at Hollingsworth's King's Rooms, on Southsea Beach, and the arrangements were made and the whole affair was conducted on a most liberal and hospitable scale.’