MASON CHAMBERLIN RA (1727-1787). Portrait of a Cleric, beli...

MASON CHAMBERLIN RA (1727-1787). Portrait of a Cleric, believed to be William Freind, Dean of Canterbury, seated three quarter-length, wearing robes, signed, oil on canvas, 50 x 40 in. Provenance: Grace Robinson of Rokeby, Yorkshire ; The Rev. Sir John Robinson ; Caroline Susannah Robinson; Robert Maximilian Rainey-Robinson CB CMG ; thence by family descent. William Freind, the presumed sitter was Dean of Canterbury from 1760-1766. He was educated at Westminster School (where his father Robert was the headmaster) and then at Christ Church, Oxford. In 1744 he was appointed a prebendary of Westminster Abbey, and chaplain in ordinary to King George 11. William Freind was married to Grace, daughter of William Robinson of Rokeby, Yorkshire. Archbishop Richard Robinson,1st Baron Rokeby was a brother-in-law. Henry Todd in his 1793 account of 'the Deans of Canterbury 'recorded that Freind was 'a great lover of music, which he both patronised and practiced. Concerts at the Deanery in his time were frequent, and many of the performers were the principal Gentlemen in Canterbury and the neighbourhood'.

Estimate:£1,500

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