ENGLISH SCHOOL (CIRCA 1730)PORTRAIT OF SIR EDMUND PROBYN IN JUDGE'S ROBESOil on canvas126.5 x 101.5cm (49¾ x 39¾ in.)Provenance: Sir Edmund and Lady ProbynInherited by Susanna Jennens upon the death of her sister Thence by descent at Weston Hall.Literature:F. Sitwell, Weston Hall, Towcester, Northamptonshire: A Brief Guide, Northampton, 1993, p. 5, in the Drawing Room.Catalogue Note:Sir Edmund Probyn (1678-1742) completed his studies at Christ Church, Oxford, entered the Middle Temple in 1695, and was called to the bar in 1702. In 1720, he married Anne Blencowe (d. 1749), daughter of Sir John Blencowe, and sister to Mrs Susannah Jennens (d. 1760) of Weston Hall. In 1724, Probyn defended the Lord Chancellor, Thomas Parker, 1st Earl of Macclesfield, when he was accused of financial irregularities; despite a competent defence, Macclesfield was found guilty and sent to the Tower until he paid his £30,000 fine. In November 1726, Probyn succeeded Sir Littleton Powys as judge of the King's bench, and was knighted on in the same month. He succeeded Sir John Comyns as Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer in November 1740 - a position roughly equivalent to today's Chancellor of the Exchequer.