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Sir Richard was the donor of the Barrett-Lennard family and estate records, deposited on loan in 1945, as well as the family’s collection of paintings, donated in 1974, to Essex County Council. In 2009, Essex County Council took possession of the art collection. Sir Richard was educated at Brighton College and Clare College, Cambridge, succeeding to the baronetcy in 1934. He was a prominent figure in Essex, being Vice-Chairman of Norwich Union between 1963 and 1973 and Chairman of East Anglia Trustee Savings Bank from 1957 to 1971. He was also a Knight of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem. In the background hangs a painting of the family’s main residence, Belhus, in Aveley, Essex. The land had been owned by the Barrett family since the mid-fourteenth century.
In the mid-eighteenth century, Sir Thomas Barrett Lennard (1717–1786), 17th Lord Dacre, remodelled the Tudor mansion with a Neo-Gothic style, very influenced by his friend Horace Walpole’s 'Strawberry Hill', in Twickenham, London. Strawberry Hill House is an impressive example of the Gothic revival in architecture.
Moreover, landscape architect Capability Brown (1716–1783) became involved in the design of the gardens and park.
Belhus and the estates were sold in 1922 and unfortunately the mansion became highly damaged by the army during the Second World War and had to be demolished in 1957.
Some of the foundations can still be seen within the Belhus Park Golf & Country Club area. Some of the mansion’s original woodwork is at Thurrock Museum.
Title
Sir (Thomas) Richard Fiennes Barrett-Lennard (1898–1977), 5th Baronet of Belhus
Date
1938
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 116.8 x W 104.1 cm
Accession number
ECC 474
Work type
Painting
