The photograph, above right, shows Margaret in her Carte de Visite of 1859.
The painting (The Baron's Chapel at Haddon Hall) appears to be a copy by Margaret of one of her
father Samuel's paintings. This might be because Samuel was painting alongside her at the time,
but probably was a training exercise to sharpen her skills. The latter seems more likely when you compare it with the
garden scene below. The detail in the chapel image is more softly executed than in the exterior. There is one difference,
however - Margaret's painting shows more of the right side of the chapel than does Samuel's - but she could be working
from his studies rather than his final work. Our thanks to R.N. Myers & Son, who supplied this image for reproduction
here.
Margaret was the last artistic Rayner daughter (though one more sister, Grace Dorothy, would follow her into the world),
and was born on 30th July 1837 in Derby. This is despite what she told the 1881 and other Census collectors as, in common
with many women, she and her sisters never gave a remotely accurate age when asked. And as with most of her sisters,
Margaret never married.
 This looks like another of Margaret's exercise
copies, this time based on her father's painting of Interior of Knole Castle, Kent, which can be
seen on Samuel's page. It even repeats the entrance of the man through the far doorway.
But in Margaret's copy, we see a sense of humour intruding, too. Instead of the formal portrait that should be hanging on
the wall at far right, we instead have a slightly cartoonish sketch. We are again grateful to R.N. Myers & Son for
the image.
The lovely example of Margaret's mature work below was supplied by courtesy of Leigh Cort of St. Augustine, Florida,
USA. Leigh says that no title is evident on the painting, but Andrew King has identified the scene as the upper garden
terrace at Haddon Hall, Derbyshire, and in recent times the house has been open for public visits. (More Haddon Hall
paintings by the Rayners can be found here)
Margaret is chiefly known for "gloomy" subjects, so this painting is evidence that she was at home in the sunshine, too.
Please note that our reproduction above was from a photograph taken slightly to one side of the picture to avoid glass
reflections. This introduced a taper which we have corrected digitally, but the painting has lost some sky and a small
fraction from other edges. However, the slenderness of the figures is there in the original - an interesting contrast to
Louise's usually robust figures.
Right: a detail from Leigh Cort's painting by Margaret Rayner.
The taper has not been corrected here - hence the
more marked slant of the wall - but the picture has been digitally sharpened a little to compensate for having to
photograph through glass.
Margaret painted another very similar scene (now held in Canada) of the Haddon gardens, but with the figures in Cavalier
costumes. This was apparently a form of enjoyment of the period not dissimilar to today's representations of the Civil
War by the Sealed Knot. This image, supplied by Aeneas Lane and his wife is reproduced below. There are visible
differences in the colouring of the hall and the detailing of the wall, but all else is clearly in the same style.
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The Knight's Tryst (left) recently went through the hands of Leicester Galleries, but we don't have
a sale price for it. It's dated c.1860. The frame was obviously made in segments and one joint has opened, but after
140-odd years it's otherwise in very nice condition.
The picture was referred to Andy King who notes that the drawing shows a rather different side of her character from
other work. The family tradition is that she was rather theatrically or romantically minded - and this image has
some elements of that, along with a Pre-Raphaelite/Pousin feel. He thinks it also reflects what her father was doing
for Walter Scott illustrations. Samuel had collected some Italian and French drawings for his patrons while he was
abroad, and this image has some elements of Diana at the pool - particularly the hounds.
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Ellen Clayton's 1873 entry for Margaret is brief: Margaret lives very retiredly, absorbed in her favourite subjects –
chiefly interiors of old churches and chapels, views of such sacred edifices in Sussex being her greatest delight. She
loves to depict old carved oak screens, damp pavements covered with effigies and inscriptions half worn out with the
tread of many a step, tattered banners, dusty niches, ancient tombs, storeyed windows. Her architectural views evidence
great power, and "have a rough mode of treatment that seems to carry with it convictions of their fidelity." A critic of
high repute remarks "We are bound to say that Miss Rayner paints these subjects with truth and force far beyond those of
David Roberts, hence she is more pathetic." Her pictures are rich in colour and tone.
The word 'pathetic' has changed in usage since the remark was made. David Roberts was a very successful artist who
was so concerned for architectural accuracy that he used mathematical instruments to ensure it - but apparently at
the cost of some liveliness in his pictures - so the comment on Margaret's work was complimentary. Margaret's art was
said to closely imitate the manner of her father's - though she used more colour than was typical of Samuel's rather
 austere
style. She was a member of the Society of Female Artists, and her first work exhibited at Suffolk Street Gallery in
London in 1867 was submitted from St Leonards according to Graves (see sources page).
This implies she had detached
herself from other members of the family, perhaps when some or all of them returned to London circa 1864. However, her
submission to Ellen Clayton that she lived "very retiredly" must have overlooked the regular summer trips she often
shared with Louise, Richard or Samuel as they went in search of new subjects.
Above: the Dacre Monument, Herstmonceux, from an image kindly supplied by Anne Pratt of Connecticut. Herstmonceux is near Hailsham in East Sussex, and as its parish church holds a 16th century canopied tomb, this is probably it. Her sister Frances also painted the same scene (probably following a joint excursion to sketch it) and that version can be seen on Frances's page
Another family comparison can be made with the painting below, Margaret's Girl feeding doves in courtyard. Strictly speaking we cannot say it is Margaret's as the artist is not positively identified (though it is a Rayner). The options are Nancy, who died in 1855 and was ill for a long time before that, and one wonders if she could have faced a trip on the relatively primitive railways of that era; Margaret, possibly on her visit circa 1877 with Richard and Louise; and Samuel, as a reworking of the theme he used below, and though his paintings were more noticeably line drawings than those by his children, it would not be difficult to see this as one of his.
| Right: Samuel's painting of White Horse Yard, Edinburgh, which is obviously the same location, painted in the 1870s. A larger view is on Samuel's page. What is interesting is the left side. It's probably a different period, though we can't be certain and don't know which came first. But one image or the other is almost certainly a fabrication. The missing tree is fair enough (artistic licence or reality) but the changed stairs, the flat-lintelled door at the top of them, the roof furniture... it's possible that there was another building nearby and some of its features got appropriated. |
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It's also possible that the changes were done to improve the composition, but it's worth remembering that Margaret had a sense of humour that sometimes slipped into her paintings, and this could be an example. The painting was auctioned in 2006 by Bonhams, and bought by Tom Kerr in Virginia.
The subject range quoted in Ellen Clayton's book may have been typical of Margaret's work, but she did step outside her usual subjects on occasion - one known example being a still life painting of objects in a room, quite modern in feel and unlike anything else by any member of the family. This may have been done as an experiment, or simply because it caught her imagination.
When her father died in 1879, she left Sussex and went to live with her widowed mother Ann at 5 Brunswick Terrace, Kings Road, New Windsor, Berkshire, and was noted there by the 1881 census.
Some of Margaret's paintings were engraved for publication. Above we have Greyfriars, Edinburgh as published in
The Studio in 1878, along with the caption that accompanied it. Below we have a slightly later engraving,
circa 1880, showing the crypt in York Minster. Both images and captions came courtesy of Andy King.
Below left is the caption that appeared in The Studio with the engraving.
Right: part of a painting of Conway Church, believed to have been painted by Margaret, though the details on the painting
are indecipherable. The view is very similar to that used by Nancy for her own rendition of the
same church.
 Lower right: Rochester
Castle by courtesy of Kathleen Arnott of British Columbia. Rochester Castle has the tallest keep in England
and was besieged many times; the castle still stands today and serves as a tourist attraction. The view is of the ruined interior
of the keep (the large white circle is a flash reflection). We don't have a date for this painting,
but Rochester is close to Hastings/St Leonards, where Margaret lived in the earlier part of her career. Kathleen Arnott
has two other pictures by Margaret - both being variations on scenes shown above.
In addition to her paintings (which enjoyed considerable success among North American collectors) she employed
herself as an art teacher, and set up a Sketching Club in the 1880s "to give instruction to amateurs living in
this country or travelling abroad, who send two of their sketches twice a month and receive them back within a
fortnight with instructions how to proceed. Terms are one guinea entrance fee and two guineas a year subscription".
 Margaret Rayner's
signature in the Herstmonceux image.
Ann died in 1890, and at some point soon after, Margaret went on to live with
Louise in Chester, where they both taught art. She was in Chester for the 1901 census, when she gave her age as 58
(actually 64). They continued to lodge with the Shearings, but Chris Evans, who is researching the Shearing family,
has discovered that Mary Ann Shearing died in 1908 (seemingly after her husband, and with no children) and her will
provided for Margaret Rayner to continue to live in the house, with use of her sitting room and bedroom for 3 months
after Mary Ann's death. Interestingly, the same provision was made for Louise - but only on the codicil. Given that
Louise had lived there far longer, it suggests that Mary Ann had a closer friendship with Margaret and/or that Margaret
may have cared for her in her declining years.
What happened immediately afterwards is uncertain (the new owners may have extended the period), but in 1910, she
and Louise moved to Tunbridge Wells, living there for 10 years until Margaret died on 12th August 1920.
RECENT SALES
Interior of the Chapel at Haddon Hall, Derbyshire by Margaret Rayner was auctioned in October
2003, and could quite possibly be the picture illustrated at the top of this page.
PLACES TO LOOK
Work in Public Collections: Ulster Museum, Belfast; Museum & Art Gallery, Derby.
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