This miniature portrait is by Henrietta Agnes Schenley (1847- ) who married Charles Nicholas Ridley in 1884 and thus became Henrietta Agnes Ridley. This miniature portrait is signed H Agnes Ridley.
In the 1901 census, she is living in The Lodge, South Warnborough, Hants with her husband Charles N Ridley, who was of independent means. They had a daughter Alberta M Ridley aged 15 , a governess and six servants. In the 1891 census, what must be the same family is living at the Grange, Groudhurst, Kent with Alberta aged 5 and five servants. Although the birth date is inconsistent, their daughter Alberta Mary Ridley appears to have been a god daughter of King Edward VII see List of godchildren of members of the British Royal Family ... It is currently thought that Henrietta Agnes Ridley was a daughter-in-law of the sitter, with her husband Charles Nicholas Ridley (1852-?) being a younger brother of the Henry C W Ridley (1848-?) referred to below.
Henrietta Agnes Schenley came from a very wealthy family. Although born in England in 1847, she was living with her parents and siblings in Collins, Pennsylvania, USA during the 1860 census, where her mother at age 34, disclosed real estate and other assets in her own right totalling $1,700,000. By 1871 the family was back in England.
There is a photographic portrait of Henrietta Agnes Schenley herself, taken about 1855 at http://www.lifeinwesternpa.org/viewDetail.asp?ID=315
Research has revealed that Henrietta's mother was Mary Elizabeth Croghan, who eloped at age 15 from a boarding school in New York, with Captain Edward Schenley. The boarding school was in fact run by Edward Schenley's sister in law Mrs McLeod. This caused an international scandel and is well documented on the Internet, see Oakland: People: Mary Croghan Schenley and her portrait here.
However, Mary and Edward they seem to have lived happily in England and had a large family. When Mary Elizabeth Croghan Schenley died in 1903, the Chicago Tribune reported her estate was worth about $40,000,000 to $50,000,000 and she was one of the richest women in the world.
On the reverse the miniature is inscribed "The Hon'ble Henrietta Araminta Monck Browne, wife of Maj Gen Charles Ridley C.B. b. 1816 d. 1869 - Painted by H. Agnes Ridley 1922". Their marriage took place in 1845 and Major General Charles William Ridley CB (1812-1867) served during the Crimean War. In 1865-67 he was Colonel of the 53rd Regiment of Foot, which in1865-68 was mainly serving in Ireland, and Canada.
Although it was painted in 1922, this miniature was acquired with the associated portrait of Napoleon presented to Lady Elizabeth Monck, and thus forms part of its provenance. The portrait of Napoleon is engraved as being a gift from Marshal Ney to Henrietta's Araminata Monck Browne's grandmother, Lady Elizabeth Monck.
In the 1851 census, Charles Ridley (then a Lt Colonel) and Henrietta were living at 78 Chester Square, Belgavia, London with their daughter Louisa Katherine Ridley (1846-1920), their son Henry C W Ridley (1848-?), and also five servants. Louisa married Marcus Talbot Delapoer-Beresford in 1895. 829
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