Oil on canvas. 119.4cm by 94cm. Signed l.r.: Hudson pinx/1749.
Lady Elizabeth, née Cecil (1729-1813), was a favourite sister of Brownlow, 9th Earl of Exeter (1725-1793).
She was always entrusted to ‘keep an eye’ on things at Burghley whilst he was absent, particularly on his two Grand Tours of 1763 and 1768.
He would leave her with extensive instructions to cover all possible eventualities during his absence!
She married John Chaplin of Blankney, Lincs. in 1757.
The 1763 Burghley Inventory records: ‘The Marble Hall…Lad. Elizabeth Chaplin by Hudson,’ where it remains to this day.
