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Notes

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Algernon Capel was a soldier and a courtier, who served under William III as a general. He also sat in the House of Lords, and was Lord-Lieutenant first of Dorset then of Hertfordshire from 1692 until his death, a post which made him responsible for local militia. Capel also acted as Constable of the Tower of London, although both his father and grandfather had been locked up there. Capel's father was imprisoned in the Tower in 1683 on suspicion of involvement in the Rye House Plot, an attempt to kill Charles II and his brother James. Before he could be tried he was found in his cell "dead and wallowing in blood", having presumably cut his own throat.

National Portrait Gallery, London

London

Title

Algernon Capel, 2nd Earl of Essex

Date

1705

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 91.4 x W 71.1 cm

Accession number

3207

Acquisition method

Given by the Art Fund, 1945. On long-term loan to Beningbrough Hall, Yorkshire

Work type

Painting

National Portrait Gallery, London

St Martin’s Place, London, Greater London WC2H 0HE England

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Artist or maker

Godfrey Kneller

1646–1723

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