Group at the Arbitration of H.L-’s Esqr and Mrs G----f--d
Pen-and-ink sketch, with wash, of the heads of seven men, all wearing wigs and facing to the viewer’s left. The sketch is mounted within an album, but it is only adhered on one side and can therefore be lifted to reveal the verso, which features a sketch of four further heads. Inscribed beneath the image: ‘Group at the Arbitration of H.L-’s Esqr and Mrs G----f--d’. This refers to a dispute between Henry Lys and Sarah Gainsford, which was resolved via public arbitration at the Crown Inn in Gosport on Tuesday 17 February 1789. Gainsford alleged that Lys had tricked her into a fake marriage with a view to extorting money from her. The arbiters, Reverend Isaac Moody Bingham, Reverend David Bogue and Lieutenant John Willes RN, found in Gainsford’s favour and ordered Lys to pay her £600 in damages.
The sketch is part of an album containing fifty-seven drawings (PAH4886–PAH4943) created by British naval officer Aiskew Paffard Hollis (1764–1844) during the late 1780s and the 1790s. The majority relate to his service as a lieutenant in ‘Pegase’ in 1785–90, in ‘Andromeda’ in 1790–93 and in ‘Queen’ in 1793–96. Included are portraits of Hollis’s shipmates, as well as scenes of everyday life ashore and afloat. Hollis must have attended the Gainsford-Lys arbitration and made this sketch on the spot.
The sketch is part of an album containing fifty-seven drawings (PAH4886–PAH4943) created by British naval officer Aiskew Paffard Hollis (1764–1844) during the late 1780s and the 1790s. The majority relate to his service as a lieutenant in ‘Pegase’ in 1785–90, in ‘Andromeda’ in 1790–93 and in ‘Queen’ in 1793–96. Included are portraits of Hollis’s shipmates, as well as scenes of everyday life ashore and afloat. Hollis must have attended the Gainsford-Lys arbitration and made this sketch on the spot.