Mrs Thornewill
(1801-1880)
17 June 1861

Volume 4, page 92, sitting number 4439.

[There is some confusion in the Silvy daybooks over the name of this sitter. Both 'Thornville' and 'Thornevill' appear with the image in the daybook, and the portrait has been catalogued under both names in the Silvy database at the NPG. However, the inscription on the album page is perfectly legible, and there is no doubt that it reads 'Thornewill.' Further evidence in the album makes it clear that this is Mrs Edward Thornewill of Dove Cliff, Burton-on-Trent.]

Born Mary Pearson in 1801, her father was Reverend John Batteridge Pearson. On 7 July 1829 at Mavesyn Ridware in Staffordshire, she married Edward Thornewill of Dove Cliff, Burton-on-Trent, the owner of a successful iron foundry. They had eight children. Edward Thornewill died in 1866.

Mrs Mary Thornewill died at Dove Cliff on 24 July 1880 at the age of 78. She left an estate valued at £800.