Portrait of an 18th-century It girl

Joshua Reynolds ’ 1776 Mrs Richard Bennett Lloyd hangs in Waddesdon Manor , Buckinghamshire .

It depicts a young woman clad in flowing, classical dress, etching the name Lloyd’ into a tree.

Its subject is Joanna Bennett Lloyd my great-great-great great-grandmother.

I am related to Joanna on my mother’s side, through my late Grandad George .

It is diverting to wonder whether Joanna Lloyd shared her anxieties and excitement about her impending marriage with Reynolds .

Richard was forced to give up his place in the British Army shortly after his marriage to Joanna because of growing tensions between England and America .

As a newly married couple, Joanna and Richard spent much of their time between London and Paris , mixing in the same circles as the American founding fathers.

Richard Lloyd struggled with alcoholism, and lived beyond his means.

After Joanna ’s death in 1814 , her portrait was passed into the care of her eldest daughter, Amelia .

In 1869 , the portrait was sold to the art dealers Agnews at auction, and then later to the Rothschilds , who hung it at Waddesdon Manor , where it remains to this day .