Georgiana Shipley

Georgiana Hare-Naylor born Georgiana Shipley (circa 1755–1806) was an English painter and art patron. Life Georgiana was born at St Asaph in 1752, the fourth daughter of Anna Maria, born Mordaunt, and Jonathan Shipley, then a canon of Christ Church, Oxford and later Bishop of Llandaff and of St Asaph. Her eldest sister Anna Maria married Sir William Jones, who proposed the existence of the Indo-European language. Georgiana was a scholar, excellent at Latin. She learned painting in Joshua Reynolds's studio and in 1781 exhibited at the Royal Academy in London. She was a few years older than her cousin and namesake Georgiana Spencer, later Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. The duchess introduced her to Francis Hare-Naylor, whom her father reluctantly invited to Twyford House. The following day the young man was arrested for debt while driving in the Bishop's coach with Georgiana and her parents. The duchess settled an annuity of £200 on the young couple and with that they married, travelling first to Karlsruhe, and then to the north of Italy. Georgiana devoted herself to painting and they settled in Bologna, where she formed a friendship with Clotilda Tambroni, Professor of Ancient Greek at the university there. Georgiana was said to be fluent in Greek, which she taught her children.