17th Century English Portrait: Admiral Nelson's great grandfather

A fascinating portrait dating from circa 1695-1700 which has wonderful provenance. It belonged to the British industrialist Leonard Pelham Lee (1903–1980) and hung in his manor house in Warwickshire.

According an old label on the verso, it depicts William Nelson, Admiral Horatio Nelson's paternal great-great grandfather. William was born in 1653 or 1654. The son of Edmund and Alice Nelson, he was baptised at Wendling in Norfolk, , on the 24th of March 1654.  He became Rector of Hillington and was described in son Edmund Nelson's Cambridge University entry as William Nelson of Dunham, Norfolk. He passed on in 1711.

An oil on canvas relined measuring 58 x 45.5 cm, our painting is presented in a finely carved and gilded period 17th Century frame, the overall size being 80 x 69 cm.