Mrs J.E. Crombie of Parkhill

Artist Sir James Jebusa Shannon (Auburn, New York, USA, 1862 - 1923)

Associated Mrs J. W. Crombie (London, England, 1872 - 1951)

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

DimensionsOverall: Height: 205.5 cm, Width: 117.6 cm
Frame: Height: 227 cm, Width: 141 cm

AcquisitionBequeathed in 1951 by Mrs Florence Crombie.

CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG003858

Keywords

About MeThe subject of this full-length portrait is Florence Showell who married James Edward Crombie (1862-1932) in the summer of 1895 in Wolverhampton.

Born in 1875 she was the second youngest of the thirteen children of the wealthy brewer Walter Showell (1832-1901) and his wife Sarah Cheshire Hartill. Walter Showell ran Crosswells Brewery in Oldbury, Walter Showell and Sons and also owned the Langley Maltings. In 1885 he stood unsuccessfully for the Birmingham parliamentary division of Bordesley as a Conservative candidate and in 1886 he published his "Dictionary of Birmingham".

Florence's husband studied at Aberdeen University, receiving his M.A. in 1882 and an LL.D. in 1907. He was a general benefactor of the University and there is a memorial tablet to him in what was formerly King's College Library. Shortly after graduating, in 1883, he became director of the famous family cloth firm, Crombie & Son. He died on 6 August 1932 at Parkhill House, Dyce.

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Shannon, born in the US of Irish immigrants, studied in London and had a highly successful career as a portraitist especially in the Edwardian era