Frances Fownes (née Somerville), Lady Maxwell-Lyte
11 of 15 portraits by Alexandre Ken
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Frances Fownes (née Somerville), Lady Maxwell-Lyte
by Alexandre Ken
albumen carte-de-visite, 1870s
3 1/2 in. x 2 1/8 in. (90 mm x 55 mm) image size
Purchased, 1976
Photographs Collection
NPG Ax46448
Sitterback to top
- Frances Fownes (née Somerville), Lady Maxwell-Lyte (1847-1925), Wife of Sir Henry Churchill Maxwell-Lyte; daughter of James Curtis Somerville. Sitter in 1 portrait.
Artistback to top
- Alexandre Ken (active 1860s-1870s), Photographer. Artist or producer of 15 portraits.
Events of 1870back to top
Current affairs
William Edward Forster's Education Act is passed, making provisions for education for all under-13s. It demonstrated the balance in Gladstone's first ministry between progressive reform and conservativism by spreading literacy, whilst maintaining the status of Church schools.The Married Women's Property Act gives wives rights over their own earnings.
Art and science
The Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's fantasy-overture Romeo and Juliet, based on Shakespeare's play and written with the aid of composer Mily Balakirev, debuts in Moscow, conducted by Nikolai Rubenstein.W. G. Grace becomes cricket captain of Gloucestershire, marking the start of a successful decade for the club in which they won three 'Champion County' titles.
International
Isaac Butt, an Irish MP at Westminster, forms the Home Rule Association.The Franco-Prussian war breaks out between France and a coalition of German states led by Prussia. Provoked by the candidacy of German Prince Leopold Hohenzollen-Sigmaringen for the Spanish throne, France declared war in July after Bismark published the deliberately provocative Ems telegraph, in which the French were represented in an offensive light on the issue.
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Carol Keeling
16 January 2017, 22:20
Hi,
A profile for Frances has been written at https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Somerville-781 , we believe the picture should date from the 1870's not 1860's due to her age at birth of 1845 and the fact she married in 1871 but the picture is in her married name