Edward Carter Hornby RM

Research sparked by a fragment of a label on the reverse side of this portrait has led to the identification of this dashing officer dressed in the uniform of the Royal Marines with blue-green facings, silver braid and anchor buttons.

Born around 1775, Edward Carter Hornby enlisted with the Royal Marines in July 1803. He rose steadily through the ranks being promoted to Captain in 1824, Major in 1826 and Lieutenant-General in 1829. Living in Portsmouth he married a local girl, Elizabeth Hill, in 1796 and with her had three daughters. Hornby died in 1841 bequeathing his estate equally between his daughters, his wife having presumably pre-deceased him.

The miniature is signed and dated on the obverse G. S. 1804. It is presented in the original gold-plated frame, the reverse showing a florid initial H in seed pearls laid on plaited brown hair.

Recent research has revealed that Gideon Slous (1791-1856) was the youngest son of George Gideon Slous and his wife Rachel Le Feuvre Dit Le Roux both originally from Jersey. Gideon married Sophia Ann Loakes in 1798 and the couple had seven children. In the 1841 Census Slous listed himself as a 70-year-old artist living with his wife at St Pancras. In the 1851 Census, now 80 years of age, he was living with a grandchild at Marylebone.

Ivory Exemption Ref.: QFYNSC7P