Sir Robert Ponsonby Staples, Bt (1853-1943)

Artist associated with 6 portraits
Staples studied art and architecture from the age of twelve, first at Louvain in Belgium, followed by spells at Dresden, Paris and London. The Royal Academy accepted his first picture in 1875 and he was a regular exhibitor thereafter. A talented artist, his most famous painting is The Ideal Cricket Match, which now hangs in the Pavilion at Lords Cricket Ground. From 1905, he played an increasing part in the running of the family estate in Lissane, Cookstown, taking up residence there in 1912, although he did not actually succeed to the property and the baronetcy until his elder brother died in 1933.