Sophia Bolland

This touching likeness of Sophia in her décolleté dress and coral beads was drawn in 1816, a few months after her marriage to John Lonsdale. Sophia was born in 1794, a fifth daughter for John and Elizabeth Bolland. Her father was a hop merchant and later a Member of Parliament for Bletchingley in Surrey.

The son of a vicar, Sophia’s husband was ordained in the Church of England in 1815. He held various positions in London, Kent and Lincoln before being appointed Bishop of Lichfield. The couple had one son and four daughters. Sophia died in 1852.

Drawn in pencil and heightened with watercolour, the portrait is presented in a handsome bird’s eye maple veneer frame with a gilt slip.