Lesa Hallam (1879-1957)

A handsome pair of portraits portraying Brigadier-General Sir George Ayscough Armytage, 7th Baronet (1872-1953) of Kirklees near York, and his wife Aimée Milborne-Swinnerton-Pilkington (1865-1955). It is believed that the portraits were commissioned to mark the occasion of their marriage at St Pauls, Knightsbridge on 12 July 1899. The couple had three children but subsequently obtained a judicial separation in 1922.

Sir George was the eldest son of Sir George John Armytage and Ellen Fawkes. He was educated at Harrow before joining the King’s Royal Rifle Corps rising to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He fought in the First World War being mentioned in despatches four times and was awarded the D.S.O. (Companion, Distinguished Service Order) in 1917 and the Croix de Guerre. At the end of the Second World War he was Military Governor of Hamburg in occupied Germany. He was a keen amateur archaeologist and led the excavation of the priory ruins on the family estate of Kirklees Park, Brighouse.

Born in New York, Lesa Hallam was half American, half English. She married Walter Schoeller and settled in London. She exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1901 and 1914.