Above, a full view and close-up of Ann's version of Raphael's Madonna of the
chair, a copy of a copy (the original is in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence), and without St. John
from the original. Florentine multicoloured versions on marble were popular from the 1840's and this is an
early trial of that type.
In 1823/4 the young couple are believed to have solved the dilemma by eloping to get married before it could be
prevented. Following the marriage at St George The Martyr Church in 1824 (according to Pallot's Marriage Index
for England: 1780-1837, but not identifying which of that name) they lived briefly in London. Ann had their
first child, William, in the same year - but he apparently died at birth or in early infancy. A daughter Ann (Nancy)
followed in 1826, whereupon
the young family moved to live in Matlock Bath in Derbyshire. Further children followed, but Ann still found
time to turn out exquisitely detailed black Ashford marble engravings, including Matlock Bath (see below) and
the frontage of Chatsworth House.
In 1842, the family moved south again to London, probably intending to spend the rest of their lives there.
On 10th May 1848 Ann sent a letter from 15 Berners Street, London, to Henry Pelham-Clinton, 4th Duke of
Newcastle under Lyne. The letter acknowledged the receipt of a cheque for five pounds and thanked the Duke
for the 'kind consideration' displayed in the letter he had written to her and her husband, though the nature
of this consideration is unknown to us as the Duke apparently did not keep a record of his outgoing
correspondence.
Shortly after, Ann gave birth to another son, Richard, and he completed the new Rayner generation, who were
as follows:
- William Rayner, born 1824 in London, died at birth or early infancy
- Ann Ingram Rayner, born 1826 in London, always known as Nancy - artist (as Nancy Rayner, but signing herself as A.J.Rayner)
- Rhoda Rayner, born 1828 in Matlock Bath - artist (as Rose Rayner)
- Harry Rayner, born 1830/1, probably in Matlock Bath
- Louisa Ingram Rayner, born 21st June 1832 in Matlock Bath, sometimes called Lou - artist (as
Louise J. Rayner)
- Frances Rayner, born 19th August 1834 in London - artist until she married Ernest Copinger (but
may have resumed professional painting later)
- Samuel Rayner junior born c.1833
- Margaret Rayner, born 30th July 1837 in Derby - artist
- Grace Dorothy Rayner, born c.1839, usually called Doll - married into the Catto family
- Richard Manser Rayner, born 28 June 1843 in London, sometimes called Dick - artist
 Above: "Matlock Bath"
engraved by Ann Rayner on Ashford black marble.
The engraving is in Buxton art gallery, behind glass in a darkened alcove, making flash essential and
reflections almost impossible to avoid - hence the bright area at the top. In fact part of the sky has been
cropped here to reduce the distraction of the flash.
The engraving has a number of blemishes on the surface of the marble. Those in the sky have been edited out,
but not those in the landscape.
 Above right:
The engraving is complete with its own leather protective case, though the engraving is of course opened up
for viewing. The wording on the case (in capitals) is "Matlock Bath drawn from nature and engraved with the
diamond by Rayner". No first name appears on this engraving, nor on the Chatsworth one, possibly to increase
the price by hiding the sex of the creator.
Engravings like this were known as moonlight sketches and are now rare as the vogue for them lasted only from
around 1830 to 1850.
Above: the centre of Ann's Matlock Bath engraving in close-up.
The family fortunes would appear to have been riding high at this point, especially with Samuel being elected
as an Associate of the Old Water Colour Society in 1848. However, this may not have been entirely the case.
Although no evidence survives to support it, it does seem as though some stresses had appeared between Ann
and Samuel, and they may have been financially-related. The strongest hints of this come from the disastrous
court case of 1851 which resulted in Samuel's professional disgrace, though it isn't certain that he did anything
legally wrong. (You can read more on this here.)
Things became so much more difficult for Samuel after the court case that he ceased to exhibit his work in
London. The death of their successful daughter Nancy in 1855 made things financially worse, so for a period
(1859-64 at least) the family moved out of London and lived in Brighton. It is unclear how serious the
fractures were between Ann and Samuel at this point, but the impression is that the marriage stayed intact
and they did later return to the London area. By the 1871 Census, they were living in New Windsor, Berkshire,
lodging at 7 York Place.
Below we see the abbreviated Census page, fortunately very neatly written by the census-taker. Click on the image to see it larger. You may need to click bottom-right to magnify it. Click the Back button to return here. Note the spelling of "Ann" - not carelessness: just two lines above, another lady is "Anne".
Below, we have the two critical lines, broken in half to fit the screen. Their ages are given fairly accurately, Samuel gives his occupation as Member of the Watercolour Society, both give Middlesex as their county of birth, and the emptiness of the final column tells us that neither of them was considered Deaf-and-Dumb, Blind, Imbecile or Idiot, or Lunatic.
After Sam died in 1879, Ann continued to live in New Windsor, at 5 Brunswick Terrace, Kings Road. Her unmarried daughter Margaret joined her soon after and kept company with her until Ann herself died in 1890.
Looking back from 1876, Ellen Clayton reports: Mrs Rayner was distinguished in early life
for her beautiful engravings on black marble, though she has ceased to create artistic work in later years.
[vol.1 p383]. In addition to the marble engravings, she also created paperweights which were popular
and much sought after. By this time, of course, Ann was in her seventies, so her sight and delicacy of touch
might both have receded somewhat from the level needed for engraving.
SALES
No prices known to us.
PLACES TO
LOOK
"Matlock Bath" is at Buxton art gallery; the frontage view of Chatsworth House was probably commissioned for Chatsworth House, and is still there. No other work or location is known to us.
Please take note: we claim no art expertise, and in no way do we offer provenance for any
paintings. What you see here was compiled out of interest in Louise Rayner's paintings and those by her
family, but is based on sometimes very fragmentary evidence. As such, it is inevitable that there will be
errors, though we naturally hope to reduce these over time.
We would gratefully receive any information or corrections that will help us to fill the gaps
and resolve unproved links - for example confirmation of dates of birth, death, etc., and details of other
addresses the family lived at (and roughly when). Images of any of the family's paintings would also be very
welcome. Thank you!
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