Sir Peter Lely

By descent from the sitter to his eldest daughter Jemima Crew (d. 1728), who married Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent (1671-1740);
By descent to their granddaughter, Jemima Yorke, 2nd Marchioness Grey and Countess of Hardwick (1723-1797); 
By descent to her daughter, Lady Amabel, Dowager Lady Polwarth and suo jure 5th Baroness Lucas (1750-1833), who was created Countess de Grey in 1816; 
By inheritance to her nephew, Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey (1781-1859), who built Wrest Park in 1834-39;
By descent to his daughter, Lady Anne Florence de Grey, Baroness Lucas of Crudwell, who married George Cowper, 6th Earl Cowper (1806-1856) in 1833;
By descent to their son, Francis Cowper, 7th Earl Cowper (1834-1905);
By inheritance to his nephew, Auberon Herbert, 9th Baron Lucas of Crudwell and 5th Lord Dingwall (1876-1916);
By inheritance to his sister, Nan Ino Cooper, 10th Baroness Lucas of Crudwell and 6th Lady Dingwall (1880-1958), at Wrest Park, Bedfordshire;
By whom given, in memory of her brother, to Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe (1858-1945);
Thence by descent.

An Inventory (...) of Pictures at West Horsley Place, Surrey, the Property of the Marquess of Crewe, K.G., 1938, unpublished Ms, p. 23, 'Thomas, 2nd. Lord Crewe of Stene (the gift of Lady Lucas in memory of her brother Auberon, Lord Lucas) by Sir Peter Lely', as hanging on the stairs;
R. B. Beckett, Lely, London 1951, p. 42.

The picture is in good condition. A very dirty and discoloured varnish is visible. There are some very small flecks of losses from flaking around the chin. Inspection under ultra violet light confirms the opacity of the varnish and reveals a retouched 2 inch long horizontal tear, as well as another area of old, retouched damage to the lower left of the picture. There are scattered, localised retouchings throughout the background and retouchings along the extension lines. The picture will clean well.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The sitter was the eldest son of John Crew, 1st Baron Crew (1598-1679) and his wife Jemima Waldegrave, daughter of Edward Waldegrave of Lawford Hall, Essex. His grandfather, Sir Thomas Crew, or Crewe (1565-1634) had been Speaker of the House of Commons from 1623 to 1635, and his great-uncle, Sir Ranulph Crewe (1558-1646), was the ancestor, through the female line, of John Crewe (1742-1829), 1st Baron Crewe of Crewe Hall. Admitted as a student at Gray's Inn in 1641, he later studied in Padua in 1647, but was back in England by 1656 when he was elected Member of Parliament for Northamptonshire in the Second Protectorate Parliament under Cromwell. In 1659 he was again elected Member of Parliament, this time for Brackley, in the Third Protectorate Parliament, and he continued to serve in the Commons for that borough, first in the Convention Parliament of 1660, and after the Restoration in the Cavalier Parliaments of 1661 and 1679. 

In 1650 Crew married, as his first wife, Mary Townshend, eldest daughter of Sir Roger Townshend (c.1596-1637), 1st Bt. of Raynham, Norfolk, with whom he had two daughters. In 1674 he married secondly Anne, daughter and co-heiress of Sir William Airmine, 2nd Bt. (1622-1658) and his wife Anne Crane, daughter of Sir Robert Crane, 1st Bt. of Chilton, Suffolk. By his second wife Crew had four daughters, including Jemima, later Duchess of Kent (d. 1728) and Elizabeth, later Duchess of Arran (1679-1756). Crew died without male issue and his fortune passed to his daughters as co-heiresses. His brother, the Jacobite bishop of Durham, Nathaniel Crew (1633-1721), succeeded to the title, as 3rd Baron Crew, and an estate of £6,000 p.a. When the 3rd Baron died without male issue the title became extinct, and the male line of the Crews of Stene ended.

Lely painted a number of portraits of members of the Crew family, including a half-length of Thomas's brother, Nathaniel Crew, later 3rd Baron (Christie's, London, 3 December 2008, lot 168), as well as Sir Ranulph Crewe and his wife Julia (Sotheby's, London, 22 April 2009, lot 34). Beckett (see Literature) lists another portrait of Thomas by Lely in the Hinchingbrooke Collection in 1951, as well as another portrait thought to be of his brother in the collection of Viscount Harcourt.