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Thomas Elwell/ Mary German Elwell

Replies: 4

Thomas Elwell/ Mary German Elwell

Posted: 18 Feb 2015 3:12AM GMT
Classification: Query
Thank you very much for your response to my query on Thomas Elwell. I am thrilled to have located someone whom I believe is researching the same branch of the family. I am not related to the family but am a historian researching a nineteenth century British portrait artist HW Patterson. In 2007, I purchased a painting of a young Victorian woman painted in 1837. I had no idea who the sitter was. In January 2014, I was researching on the net and found that 2 portraits by the same artist had been auctioned in October 2014 by the Potomack Company in Virginia, USA. Fortunately these paintings were identified, one as Thomas Elwell and the other as Mary German Elwell. You can imagine my surprise when I compared my painting to that of Mary and found them to be of the same woman. The Potomack brochure for October 2014 is on line and I was able to make close comparisons with facial features and Mary's wedding band. I have since sent a visual of my painting and details of the auction to Wolverhampton Civic and Historical Society and the Wolverhampton Archives. They have both very kindly featured them on their facebook pages. I do not have sufficient space here but you will find on these pages a reference to the details in Thomas's portrait relating to his work for Joliffe and Banks as engineer for London Bridge. It also makes mention of Sir Edward Banks leaving Thomas Elwell a diamond ring in his will. I believe its more than a coincidence that it was Banks who was the architect for Compton Hall. Sadly, since the Potomack auction I have seen the 2 portraits for sale on e-bay- I do hope they have gone to Elwell descendants this time! According to material on Ancestry Mary was married to a John Elwell- maybe a cousin! Another website provides a very brief reference to a John Elwell and Mary who had 5 children. The dates are feasible given that I think my portrait could have been in celebration of her marriage ( dated 1837) and her death in 1855- a year before her father. The children were, Luvie Elwell ( could be a spelling error here), Sarah Elwell 1838, Eunice Elwell 1842, Patience Elwell 1845 ( who married Edwin Cobb) and Mary Matilda about 1850. I wonder whether it would be possible for you to check these names against those in the Iron Elwell book. My apologies this was meant to be a short posting!
SubjectAuthorDate Posted
Jill_Harland 18 Feb 2015 10:12AM GMT 
midge1249 11 Mar 2015 7:58PM GMT 
Jill_Harland 10 Apr 2015 7:38AM GMT 
midge1249 10 Apr 2015 7:08PM GMT 
Jill_Harland 12 Apr 2015 11:37PM GMT 
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