William Graham (1817 – 16 July 1885), Liberal MP for

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, was a Scottish politician, wine merchant, cotton manufacturer and port shipper. He is remembered as a patron of

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

artists like

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August, 183317 June, 1898) was a British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, Ford Madox Brown and Holman ...

and

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...

and a collector of their works.

Art collector

Graham's father was the founder of a firm, and in 1810 W & J Graham & Co diversified its business interests when it began importing wines from Portugal. Graham's became one of Britain's most prominent port shippers. Graham was a moderate Liberal, who was elected on 14 July 1865 with

Robert Dalglish Robert Dalglish (4 January 1808 – 20 June 1880) was a Scottish Radical politician. He was the Member of Parliament MP for Glasgow from 1857 to 1874. Life Dalglish was born in Glasgow, the son of Robert Dalglish (1770–1844) the Lord Provos ...

(1808–1880) in Glasgow. He was re-elected in 1868 with Dalglish and George Anderson (1819–1896) in the party's great Glasgow triumph in the general election of 1868 when Glasgow's electoral representation was raised from two to three MPs. Graham was a friend and patron of

since 1856. Graham bought several of Burne-Jones's works and the 1886 sale of his collection allowed new Burne-Jones enthusiasts to acquire coveted pieces. Graham also invited artists such as Burne-Jones and Edward Clifford to his country house, Stobhall, in Perthshire. Clifford in turn acquired three paintings from Graham's collection in 1886. At Rossetti's persuasion, he commissioned '' Found'' for 800 pounds in 1869; the painting remained unfinished, and took possession of the work after the painter's death in April 1882. In 1871, Graham commissioned ''

The Blessed Damozel "The Blessed Damozel" is perhaps the best known poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, as well as the title of his painting (and its replica) illustrating the subject. The poem was first published in 1850 in the Pre-Raphaelite journal '' The Germ''. Ro ...

'' (1871) from

. He also acquired
La Donna Della Finestra
' (1880) from the artist. Graham began to buy from Rossetti in the mid-1860s. When they came on the market in 1874 and 1885, Graham bought his two Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood oils, '' Ecce Ancilla Domini'' (1850) and ''The Girlhood of Mary Virgin'' (1849) both now in the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

. He also commissioned the large ''Dante's Dream'', although this was found to be too big for his London house. Many of the pictures he owned are now in

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...

. From Edward Burne-Jones, Graham also acquired many pieces. In the 1870s, Graham commissioned the two large oils ''Laus Veneris'' (Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne) and ''Chant d'Amour'' (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), which were the most important items in a large collection of Burne-Jones's work, formed from the mid-1860s. The ''Graham piano'' was painted by Burne-Jones for Graham's daughter Frances (Mrs. Horner, later Lady Horner); Frances continued her father's role as friend and patron of Burne-Jones.

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

and Burne-Jones also prepared a copy, one of four, of ''The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam'' (1859) for Frances. His importance is not only as a purchaser and a patron, but also as a person whose fine collection of early Italian paintings helped to inspire the artists whom Graham supported such as Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones. After his death, his collection was sold at auction by Christie's in April 1886.

Issue and descendants

Graham married Jane Catherine Lowndes (1819/1820–1899), and had issue including: # Frances Jane Graham (1854/1855–1940), married 1883 John Francis Fortescue Horner, barrister, later Sir John Horner, of Mells Park, Somerset, and had issue: ## Katharine Frances Horner (1885–1976)Janus: The Papers of Alfred Duff Cooper (1st Viscount Norwich)
/ref> married the barrister

Raymond Asquith Raymond Herbert Asquith (6 November 1878 – 15 September 1916) was an English barrister and eldest son of British prime minister H. H. Asquith. A distinguished Oxford scholar, he was a member of the fashionable group of intellectuals known as ...

(killed in action 1916), and was grandmother of the present

Earl of Oxford and Asquith Earl of Oxford and Asquith is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1925 for the Liberal politician H. H. Asquith. He was Home Secretary from 1892 to 1895, Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1905 to 1908, Leader of ...

. She was a friend of

Ronald Knox Ronald Arbuthnott Knox (17 February 1888 – 24 August 1957) was an English Catholic priest, theologian, author, and radio broadcaster. Educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, where he earned a high reputation as a classicist, Knox wa ...

and Siegfried Sassoon. ##

Edward Horner The equestrian statue of Edward Horner stands inside St Andrew's Church in the village of Mells in Somerset, south-western England. It was designed by the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, as a memorial to Edward Horner, who died of wounds in the ...

(1888 – November 1917), killed in action in the Battle of Cambrai, a member of

The Coterie The Coterie was a fashionable and famous set of English aristocrats and intellectuals of the 1910s, widely quoted and profiled in magazines and newspapers of the period. They also called themselves the "Corrupt Coterie". Members Its members in ...

with his brother-in-law. # Agnes Graham (1860/1861–1937), married 1881 Herbert Jekyll, later Colonel Sir Herbert Jekyll (1846–1932), brother of the celebrated gardener Gertrude Jekyll. Agnes became a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire and a Lady of Justice of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. They had issue one son who died unmarried (1882–1965), and two daughters: ## Barbara Jekyll (1887–1973), married first 1911 the Hon. Francis McLaren, M.P., who was killed in 1917 in the War, and, secondly, in 1922, Colonel B. C. Freyberg, V.C., later Lord Freyberg (1889–1963), and had issue by both husbands. She was named a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in 1953. ## Pamela Jekyll (1889–1943), married 1908 the Right Hon.

Reginald McKenna Reginald McKenna (6 July 1863 – 6 September 1943) was a British banker and Liberal politician. His first Cabinet post under Henry Campbell-Bannerman was as President of the Board of Education, after which he served as First Lord of the Admir ...

(d. 1943), and had issue.

References

Sources

William Graham MP
''The Glasgow Story''. *

''The Times'', 30 September 1932.

''The Times'', 26 September and 3 October 1973

'The Times'', 6 July 1963 * Leigh Rayment , last updated 4 November 2006. Retrieved 21 January 2008.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, William, Liberal MP for Glasgow Scottish Liberal Party MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Glasgow constituencies UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 Scottish art collectors 1817 births 1885 deaths

Art collector

Issue and descendants

References

Sources

Further reading

External links