Francis Slater Rebow
Francis Slater Rebow 1st Life Guards | |
---|---|
Commands held | Household Cavalry Brigade |
Known for | Patron of John Constable |
Battles/wars |
|
Spouse(s) |
Mary Hester Rebow
(m. 1796; died 1834) |
Children | 3 |
Rebow transferred to the
Rebow first commissioned Constable, whose father he was a friend of, to paint a portrait of his daughter Mary Martin Rebow in 1812. Rebow stayed in contact with Constable and in 1816 had him return to his estate at Wivenhoe Park to paint two works including Wivenhoe Park, Essex, which helped pay for Constable's subsequent marriage.
Early life
Francis Slater was born in Derbyshire in 1770, the son of solicitor Richard Slater of Chesterfield, and his wife Catherine née Heaton.[1][2][3] Slater had one brother, Gill, who became a midshipman in the Royal Navy, and a sister, Jane, who died the widow of a vicar in 1850.[2][4]
Military career
West Indies Campaign
Slater joined the
Slater fought at the successful Battle of Martinique between February and March 1794, and on 1 April was present at the capture of Saint Lucia. The expedition moved in the same month to attack Guadeloupe in the Invasion of Guadeloupe. During the initial fighting Slater was seriously wounded through both of his thighs and by the beginning of 1796 he had returned to England.[1][4][6]
Return to England and marriage
In England Slater purchased his promotion to
Life Guards
Rebow exchanged his commission into the
Rebow was promoted to the rank of major and lieutenant-colonel[Note 1] on 25 September 1799. When the appointment was announced in The London Gazette on 1 October it mistakenly recorded Rebow as becoming the regiment's second major instead of major and lieutenant-colonel, and this was not noticed. As such Rebow was promoted to lieutenant-colonel a second time on 29 April 1802 with the understanding that he was still only a major. The mistake was recognised by the War Office on 25 September that year and Rebow's rank was corrected, listing him as a major and lieutenant-colonel with seniority from 1799.[4]
Having continued to serve in the 2nd Life Guards, on 20 August 1807 Rebow purchased a lieutenant-colonelcy within the
General officer
Rebow's first appointment as a
The Household Cavalry Brigade had arrived in the
Patron of Constable
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/John_Constable_-_Wivenhoe_Park%2C_Essex_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg/220px-John_Constable_-_Wivenhoe_Park%2C_Essex_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
Rebow is most commonly known for his
With the Napoleonic Wars over, in July 1816 Rebow had Constable return to Wivenhoe, and over the next two months the artist created two new works for him. These were Wivenhoe Park, Essex, and The Quarters, Alresford Hall, another property owned by Rebow. Both were complete by 17 September; the money from the commissions, as Rebow had intended, allowed Constable to marry his long-time sweetheart Maria Bicknell.[16][17] Both pictures again focused on Rebow's daughter, who is pictured driving a donkey cart in the former, a painting that Rebow had Constable extend so that the full extent of Wivenhoe Park could be included.[17][18] Constable wrote to Bicknell on 30 August describing the Rebows:
I feel entirely comfortable with them, because I know them to be sincere people - and though of family and in the highest degree refined, they are not at all people of the world...[18]
Constable stayed in contact with Rebow after this, returning to Wivenhoe in August 1817 where he made two drawings. In August 1819 Rebow corresponded with Constable about having the artist visit again to paint a group portrait of the Rebow family. While Constable intended to fulfil the engagement, Rebow evinced doubts that he would be able to find the time for the painting to be completed because of a busy social schedule, and as no such portrait survives or is recorded it is likely that Constable never visited Wivenhoe to begin it.[19] Rebow is described by art historians Leslie Parris and Ian Fleming-Williams as a more sympathetic patron of Constable than others such as Richard Benyon De Beauvoir.[20]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/John_Constable_-_The_Quarters_behind_Alresford_Hall_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg/220px-John_Constable_-_The_Quarters_behind_Alresford_Hall_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
Notes and citations
Notes
- ^ Major and lieutenant-colonel was a rank unique to the Life Guards, with not even the other Household Cavalry regiment, the Royal Horse Guards, using it.[9]
- ^ Rebow continued to be listed as an officer of the 1st Life Guards until about 1818 when he was removed as a general officer receiving unattached pay.[4]
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g Urban (1845), p. 639.
- ^ a b Urban (1850), p. 449.
- ^ Brown (2023), p. 117.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i McGuigan & Burnham (2017), p. 244.
- ^ a b c d Butler (1989), p. 61.
- ^ a b Philippart (1818), p. 54.
- ^ a b Crisp (1911), p. 72.
- ^ a b c d e f McGuigan & Burnham (2017), p. 245.
- ^ Morris (1994), p. 241.
- ^ a b c McGuigan & Burnham (2017), pp. 244–245.
- ^ a b Arthur (1909), p. 569.
- ^ Fortescue (1920), p. 88.
- ^ a b c Butler (1989), p. 62.
- ^ Fortescue (1920), p. 78.
- ^ Comstock (1956), p. 282.
- ^ Butler (1989), pp. 62–64.
- ^ a b Reynolds (1983), p. 86.
- ^ a b Butler (1989), p. 63.
- ^ Butler (1989), p. 64.
- ^ Parris & Fleming-Williams (1991), p. 167.
References
- Arthur, Sir George (1909). The Story of the Household Cavalry. Vol. 2. London: Archibald Constable and Company. OCLC 1864933.
- Brown, Steve (2023). King George's Army: British Regiments and The Men Who Led Them 1793–1815. Vol. 1. Warwick: Helion. ISBN 978-1-804513-41-5.
- Butler, Nicholas (1989). The Story of Wivenhoe. Wivenhoe: Quentin Press. ISBN 0-947614-01-X.
- Comstock, Helen (1956). "Constable in America". The Connoisseur. Vol. 136. London: National Magazine Company. ISSN 0010-6275.
- Crisp, Frederick Arthur (1911). Visitation of England and Wales. Vol. 9. London: Grove Park Press. OCLC 780454155.
- OCLC 655852075.
- McGuigan, Ron; Burnham, Robert (2017). Wellington's Brigade Commanders. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 978-1-47385-079-8.
- ISBN 9780712661058.
- Parris, Leslie; Fleming-Williams, Ian (1991). Constable. London: Tate Gallery. ISBN 1-85437-070-7.
- OCLC 1152821195.
- ISBN 0-87099-336-4.
- Urban, Sylvanus (1845). The Gentleman's Magazine. Vol. 24. London: John Bowyer Nichols and Son. OCLC 1009026381.
- Urban, Sylvanus (1850). The Gentleman's Magazine. Vol. 33. London: John Bowyer Nichols and Son. OCLC 1009026381.