Sir George Smith Gibbes (1771–1851) was born in Wiltshire and graduated in medicine at Oxford University. He practiced successfully in Bath where he had a distinguished reputation for many years, and became physician to the Bath General Hospital. He was a fellow of the Royal Society and the Royal College of Physicians, as well as other scientific and literary societies, for whom he wrote many papers. In 1796 he wrote 'Observations on the Component Parts of Animal Matters, and on Their Conversion into a Substance Resembling Spermaceti', and in 1800 'A Treatise on the Bath Water'. In 1819 Gibbes was appointed physician-extraordinary to Queen Charlotte, and in 1820 he received the honour of knighthood. The portrait was painted by the Irish-born painter, John Keenan, in 1798.