​News date: for immediate release
The Armitt acquires rare George Romney portrait of historic Cumbrian landowner
The Armitt: Museum, Gallery, Library in Ambleside has acquired an important portrait of Sir Michael Le Fleming, 4th Baronet of Rydal Hall, painted by Cumbria’s own George Romney.
George Romney (1734-1802) was an English portrait painter, the most fashionable artist of his day, painting leading political and social figures. 
Born in Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria, he began his career in Kendal, moving to London in 1762. Romney returned from a two-year visit to Rome in 1775, and his career thereafter went from strength to strength. Romney returned to Cumbria towards the end of his life. 
He remains the most significant British artist to be associated with the Lake District.
The sitter of the portrait is Sir Michael le Fleming, owner of the Rydal Hall estate, two miles north of Ambleside. Le Fleming was MP for Westmorland from 1774 until his death in 1806 and is seen in the painting in the uniform of the Westmorland Militia. He sat for this portrait in 1779 and 1780, paying Romney’s 18-guinea fee in March 1781. 
Manager & Curator for The Armitt, Faye Morrissey, said, “This work has an interesting story. It emerged in 2016 in a US private collection which allowed it to be identified as the rightful portrait of Le Fleming. Before this, in a recently published catalogue raisonée by Alex Kidson, another picture had been illustrated in its place. Now, the author acknowledges the error, and the work we have has been given the correct identification.”
Charles Nugent, Trustee of The Armitt adds: “We are delighted to have acquired this portrait of Sir Michael le Fleming, who was the local Member of Parliament from 1774-1806 and owner of Rydal Hall. It is wonderful that the portrait has now come back home and it can be placed in its proper context. We are very grateful to the Beecroft Bequest and to the Friends of the Armitt who have made this purchase possible.”
This new acquisition is on display at The Armitt in Ambleside and is the spotlight piece in the first gallery of the museum. The artwork is available to view throughout 2023.

​Diary Dates April - July 2023
 Saturday April 1st   1p.m.
Lecture by David Cross, Vice President of the Romney Society, on George Romney at the National Trust’s Annual Opening of Dalton Castle, Dalton in Furness. There is also an exhibition featuring George Romney on view. For further details, please contact Gary Milne, Chair of the Friends of Dalton Castle, Tel 07917160129 garymilne1960@gmail.com 

Friday 14th April  11.30 a.m.
Lecture by Stella Grace Lyons on Caspar David Friedrich.
By ZOOM in Members' own homes only. Please contact Jane Orrom Horton at the above address or romneysocmembers@gmail.com for the zoom link for the small charge of £5.
 
Friday 12th May 11.30 a.m.
Romney Society AGM at South Lakes Foyer.
The AGM will be followed by a short Lecture given by Prudence Bliss on the
Artists of Captain Cook’s Voyages
(originally intended to accompany Tony Furnival's lecture on Captain Cook in February).
Buffet lunch at 12.45/1pm. 
Coffee & tea will be available throughout the occasion.
Please contact Jane romneysocmembers@gmail.com by 5th May to book lunch for £7.50.
 
Saturday 24th June. 3.00 pm 
Strawberry Tea at the Entwhistles' house & garden in Grange.
This is a Fundraising Social Event. Tickets £10.  Please book with Jane at the above address or romneysocmembers@gmail.com as soon as possible as numbers will be limited.
 
Tuesday 4th July-  11 a.m.
Visit to view George Romney’s paintings in Liverpool at the Walker Art Gallery, Sudley House and the Lady Lever Gallery.
A minibus will be organised from Kendal if enough Members would like to travel together. Entry to the Museums is free of charge, so the only costs to Members would be the transport and their lunch.
For further details and to book a place please contact Ian Horton at the above address or on romneysoctreasurer@gmail.com  as soon as possible.

22/10/2022
​Lecture at Crooklands - Friday 11th November 2022 at 11.30 a.m.
Dr Stephen Lloyd will speak on
"Bellotto's Paintings of the Fortress of Königstein". 

Lecture at Paul Mellon Centre, London - Thursday November 17th 6pm- 7.30pm
Nicholas Robbins at the Paul Mellon Centre will speak on 
"George Romney in the prison-world of Europe".
N.B. This lecture was recorded and may be accessed free on-line at the Paul Mellon Centre website sometime after December 8th under the series title of Georgian Provocations II. www.paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk/whats-on/recordings.

Tuesday 6th December 2pm at Crooklands Hotel
Meet the Romney Society’s new Chairman, Glyn Hopkins and see his collection of Romney paintings!  
Coffee/tea and mince-pies will be served.
Free Event.  Please book in advance at romneysocmembers@gmail.com

Lecture at Crooklands - Friday 10th February 2023 at 11.30 a.m.
Stella Grace Lyons, the Art Society Accredited Lecturer, will speak  on
"Caspar David Friedrich, Painter of Stillness & Solitude".

See the Diary pages for details

Unshackled: A Technical Study of the Portrait of Lady Willoughby de Broke. 
By Derek Lintala.  
Maclean Eltham Essay Prize Winner 2022
Jane, Duchess of Gordon, hated rival of the Whig Duchess of Devonshire. 
By Heather Carroll
The Mystery of the Warwick Romney and his Father. 
By Adam Busiakiewicz
Mother and Child Reunion, George Romney’s portrait of Mrs. Thomas Carwardine and her son Thomas, and Romney’s abiding friendship with the Revd. Thomas Carwardine.  
By Stephen Miller

Transactions can be purchased from Martin Orrom email: martin@orrom.net

​Postponement of lecture 3rd April 2020
Please note that due to the ongoing problems surrounding the coronavirus outbreak, the AGM and lecture planned for 3rd April at Crooklands Hotel, Kendal have been postponed.
It is hoped to announce new dates in due course. Members who have paid in advance for the final lecture will receive a one lecture credit against the 20/21 programme or, on request, a cash refund.
Peter Fisher
Hon. Secretary  13th March 2020

We are pleased to be able to release the first dates for the 202 Lecture Season:

Jan 10th 2020 - Martin Myrone the Senior Curator at the Tate will give a talk there on William Blake as seen in the current exhibition entitled "Art before 1800."
Feb 7th 2020 - Catherine Parry Wingfield will talk about the recent project of  "Saving Turner's House" at Sandycombe Lodge Twickenham.
March 6th 2020 - Dr Richard Stephens will speak on the watercolours of Francis Towne drawing especially on the watercolours of Lake District scenes.
April 3rd 2020 - AGM starting at 11.00AM followed by a talk at 11.30AM given by Adam Busiakiewicz on the artistic interests of the 2nd Earl of Warwick especially in connection with John Westbrooke Chandler.

​For the full Romney Society diary, please click here.

The following changes have been made to the upcoming 2019/2020 Programme.
October 4th - David Cross will now give a talk on  William Hogarth rather than the originally published talk by Rupert Nichol
November 15th - Hugh Belsey will give a talk on Thomas Gainsborough. Please note the change of date for this lecture.
December 6th - Lucinda Lax will give a talk on two portraits of James Adam.
The remaining lectures planned for early 2020 onwards will be submitted in October.

The Romney Society Annual General Meeting will be held on:
​Friday 5th April 2019 starting at 11:00 at the Crooklands Hotel, Milnthorpe, LA7 7NW

​Following the AGM, Dr. Pieter van der Merwe, retired curator of the Royal Maritime Museums, Greenwich, will speak on ‘18th Century Naval Battles and Great Admirals’.

We are obliged to make the following changes to the final two lectures on the published programme.

On Friday 8 March 2019 The speaker will be Peter Osbourne BA, historian, Artist and Head of School at Blackburn College of Art, is a leading expert on the great wood engraver Thomas Bewick. Peter will speak on ‘Bewick's Beliefs and Vignettes’.

On Friday 5 April 2019 the speaker will be Dr. Pieter van der Merwe, retired curator of the Royal Maritime Museums, Greenwich, lectured to us on marine painting in 2015 and in 2017 showed us around the recently refurbished Queen's House in Greenwich. He will speak on ‘18th century Naval Battles and Great Admirals’.

We hope to see you at the Crooklands Hotel.

The Romney Society visit to Exhibition 19-21st February 2019 The Lost Treasures of Strawberry Hill
Members are invited to participate in a trip to Twickenham 19-21st Feb 2019
Suggested itinerary:  
19th Feb - travel independently to Twickenham – Train to Euston, transfer via Waterloo to Strawberry Hills station and onto local hotel. The Alexander Pope Hotel is conveniently situated and was used by members on our 2013 trip.

After a partial rehang was completed in the Romney Room at Abbot Hall, the Society was invited to discuss closer cooperation with Abbot Hall. A first, very fruitful meeting was held where the Society spoke of our need to attract more people to our lecture series. It was agreed that we should design a template for a poster for each lecture, preferably with an illustration on it. Abbot Hall will try to find wall space in the cafe for each poster, one at a time. In addition they would try to make their 200 volunteer invigilators aware of our programme. They are considering putting our programme on their website.

​Dates and further details of the Romney Society Lectures for October 2018 to April 2019

​Dates and further details of the Romney Society Lectures for March 2018 to May 2018

​​Dates and further details of the Romney Society Lectures for October 207 to April 2018

The Romney Society's next trip will be to Greenwich. Highlights of the two-day visit include the National Maritime Museum's exhibition of the life and career of Emma Hamilton, Seduction and Celebrity.
For a full programme of the Greenwich trip please select 'Read More'

Dates and further details of the Romney Society Lectures for October 2014 to April 2015