I am happy to present a few portraits of members of the Gambier family from my collection. Please use the credit ‘Collection of Fabiënne Tetteroo’ if you reproduce these images anywhere.
Gloucester Gambier (1812-1872)
Photographer: Caldesi, Blandford & Co. 13 Pall Mall, London at P.& D. Colnaghi, Scott & Co.
Carte de visite, c. 1861-1862.
James Fitzjames’ half-brother! From a Carte de Visite album in which this photo was captioned “Col. Gambier R.A.”. Gloucester was an officer in the Royal Artillery and held the rank of Colonel from February 1861 until he was promoted to Major-General in March 1869. This photo can thus be dated to 1861-1862, as Caldesi, Blandford & Co. appears to have been in business under that name until 1862.
Gloucester Gambier was born on 19 October 1812 in Hinckley, Leicestershire, to Sir James Gambier and Jemima, Lady Gambier. In 1827, he joined the Army as a Cadet in the Royal Artillery. Between 1838 and 1844, he played three first-class cricket matches (two for Gentlemen of Kent and one for Marylebone Cricket Club). At the Battle of Inkerman on 5 November 1854 during the Crimean War, he was “wounded in the right chest by a round shot while in command of two 10 Pounder Guns.” [Service Record, WO 76/364/453, TNA] He died at the house of his brother Robert Fitzgerald Gambier on 29 March 1872 in Gosport. His obituary in The St. James’s Magazine London says that he died “suddenly”, but that he “had suffered, since the severe wounds he received before Sebastopol [Crimean War], from an affection of the heart, which proved to be the cause of his death.” [Vol. 9, April 1872, p. 273]
Decorative elements
Some of the decor and props are also featured in other photos by Caldesi, Blandford & Co. In this photo of Gloucester Gambier’s nephew Soame Gambier Jenyns (1826-1873), he appears to be standing on the same set as his uncle. Lacking the desk and pedestal with a twisted column present in the former’s photo, the curtain is here pulled back to reveal a marble-like pedestal on which Jenyns has placed his hat.
The elaborately carved pedestal with the twisted column from Gloucester’s photo also appears in the following photos:
Left: Daniel Maclise. By Caldesi, Blanford & Co. Carte de visite, c. 1860. NPG x25266, National Portrait Gallery.
Right: James Wellwood Moncreiff, 1st Baron Moncreiff of Tulliebole. By Caldesi, Blanford & Co. Carte de visite, c. 1860. NPG Ax39798, National Portrait Gallery.
Three portraits formerly owned by a descendant of William Gambier, Fitzjames’ half-brother
Jemima Gambier née Snell, Lady Gambier (1776-1843)
Jemima Snell married James Gambier (who wasn’t a Sir yet) on 21 April 1797 at St. James’s Church, Picadilly, London. They would have 12 children together. On the back of the frame, the descendant wrote that Jemima is their great-great-grandmother.
This is another portrait of Jemima, in the collection of the Rhode Island School of Design Museum:
Henry Edridge (1769-1821), Portrait of Jemima Lady Gambier. Watercolour; pencil. Museum Works of Art Fund 58.046. RISD Museum.
Amabel Frances Gambier née Garth Colleton (1809-1898)
Amabel Garth Colleton was Fitzjames’ oldest half-brother William Gambier’s (1802-1860) second wife, and they were married on 5 July 1831 at St. Marylebone Church, London. This marriage produced 4 children and the family lived in Sacombe, Hertfordshire. The descendant wrote on the back of the frame that she is their great-grandmother.
On 15 May 1845, William and Amabel were among the party of Gambiers who went to Greenhithe to say goodbye to their secret relative Fitzjames, whose Arctic Expedition would sail out on 19 May. Fitzjames wrote about it to Elizabeth Coningham on 16 May 1845: “All the Gambiers came down yesterday to see me. William, Fitzgerald & both their wives, and Gloucester also came from Dover on purpose.”
Admiral Sir James Gambier, Lord Gambier (1756-1833)
Hand coloured engraved portrait. The descendant wrote on the back of the frame: “Lord Gambier cousin to Sir James Gambier. First president of C.M.S. Was with Nelson at Trafalgar.”
This is a detail of another portrait of Admiral Gambier, from the collection of the National Portrait Gallery:
James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier by Joseph Slater, pencil and chalk, 1813. NPG 1982, National Portrait Gallery.
James Fitzjames 