FOLLOWER OF GODFREY KNELLER

PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF LORD JOHN KERR

FOLLOWER OF SIR GODFREY KNELLER
Meinhardt Schomberg, 3rd Duke of Schomberg, 1st Duke of Leinster
Oil on canvas
121 x 97cm (47 3/4 x 38in)

Inscribed Meynherdt Duke / of Schonberg and / Leinster lower centre; inscribed with the Lothian Newbattle Abbey inventory number 282 lower left

PROVENANCE:
Meinhardt Schomberg, 3rd Duke of Schomberg, 1st Duke of Leinster
Frederika Mildmay, Countess of Mertola (1687-1751; daughter of the above, in 1715 she married Robert Darcy, 3rd Earl Holderness, 1681-1721)
Lady Caroline Darcy (1717-1778; daughter of the above, in 1735 she married William Kerr, 4th Marquess of Lothian, 1710-1775)
Thence by descent

Son of the 1st Duke of Schomberg, Meinhardt Schomberg (1641-1719) was an inveterate cavalry officer who played a critical role at the Battle of the Boyne. As a young officer he served with his father in the English Expeditionary brigade to Portugal before moving to La Rochelle where he became a French citizen, and served in the French army. He fought under Marshal François de Créquy in the Battle of Kochersburg in October 1677, the Battle Freiburg im Breisgau in November 1677, the Battle of Rheinfelden in July 1678 and the Battle of Kinzing later the same month before serving under Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg as a general of cavalry.

In 1689 he travelled to England where he was soon a general in Lord Cavendish's Regiment of Horse. As second in command of King William's army at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 he led the crucial crossing of the River Boyne, the turning point in the confrontation that secured a decisive Williamite victory. Miraculously Meinhardt incurred no casualties among his regiment, although his father died during the latter stages of the battle. Meinhardt was created Duke of Leinster for his role at the Boyne and subsequently became a British subject. He inherited the title Duke of Schomberg in 1693, and in 1698 moved into the newly built Schomberg House on the south side of Pall Mall. He was created Knight of the Garter in 1703.