The Stuart Portrait The portrait you see before you is of William Esme Montagu Stuart. He was the only child of the late Lieut-Col William Dugald Stuart 1860 – 1922 and his wife Millicent, of Tempsford Hall. He was born on 22nd November 1895, but was unfortunately killed at Gueudecourt, Somme on 7th October 1916 serving as a 2nd Lieutenant, in the Royal West Kent Regiment. The Stuart Memorial was built by Mr and Mrs William Dugald Stuart, in memory of their only child Esme as he was known, and the 14 other men of Tempsford who lost their lives in the Great War 1914 – 1918. In 1922 William Dugald Stuart died. It was said he never recovered from the shock of losing his son, and his wife Millicent carried out their wish to build the Hall in his memory. The portrait of Esme was commissioned at this time and was hung in the Stuart Memorial Hall when it was presented to the village in 1925. Sometime in the late 1980s the portrait was badly vandalised by some youths, and extensive damage was caused to the face and other areas of the canvas as though someone had punched through it. The damage was so bad that it was beyond repair due to limited finance and lack of insurance. In the spring of 1999, after the portrait being almost forgotten about, the question was raised about what was to be done about repairing the damage, restoring the painting back to its former glory and rehanging it in its rightful place in the Stuart Memorial Hall. An appeal was made to local companies and other organisations to see if funds could be raised to repair and restore the portrait. The sum of £600 was raised enabling to work to be carried out by a local art restorer. The portrait was sent away in April and the work completed in early September 1999. The artist, Tony R Smith of Meppershall Beds, said it was an honour to restore this portrait of a young man who had all his opportunities taken from him in a wasteful war and yet the person who so wilfully vandalised the portrait still has every opportunity in life. We would like to thank the following people and companies for their kind donations towards the restoration project: Royal Mail Cambridge |
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