An Early 17th Century Portrait Of The John Roper, 1st Baron Teynham. Dated 1612.

Description 🔉

A Beautiful and Unique Portrait of John Roper, 1st Baron Teynham
Dated: 1612
Dimensions: 90cm x 70cm

Provenance
This striking early 17th-century portrait depicts John Roper, 1st Baron Teynham, a distinguished English nobleman and devout Roman Catholic active during the late Elizabethan and early Stuart periods. The son of Christopher Roper of Lynsted, Kent, he belonged to the notable Roper family, renowned for their steadfast Catholicism and their familial connection to Sir Thomas More through William Roper, More’s son-in-law.

In his History of Kent, Edward Hasted (Vol. II, p. 687) claims that “John Roper was knighted on July 9th, 1616 … and on the same day created a peer of this realm, by the title of Lord Teynham, Baron of Teynham... as a reward for his forward attachment to the King’s interest, having been the first man of note who proclaimed the King” in the county of Kent. However, this account contains two significant inaccuracies.

First, there is no doubt that John Roper was knighted much earlier, under Queen Elizabeth I, on 23 February 1587–8. This is confirmed by an Archidiaconal Visitation of Lynsted in 1615, which reported: “Sir John Roper, Knight, hath not received the communion in our parish these two years. He is a great part of the year attending upon his office at London; we know not whether he do receive there or not.”

Second, the notion that Roper’s elevation to the peerage in 1616 was a delayed reward for proclaiming King James I in 1603 is implausible. A thirteen-year delay would be remarkably long, even by the standards of belated royal favour—and gratitude was not a notable trait of James I, who lacked the warmth and sense of loyalty that later endeared Charles I to his supporters.

If James bestowed any favour upon Roper, it was likely limited to the grant of the Manor of Teynham. In fact, as early as 1604, attempts were made to remove Roper from his office of Custos Brevium, with a substantial sum of £3,500 offered for the reversion of the position. Roper, however, refused to yield. The later suggestion that he was compensated with a peerage for the loss of this office—ultimately taken by George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham—is a misrepresentation.

The unvarnished truth is that Sir John Roper purchased his barony in 1616 for the considerable sum of £10,000. A contemporary wit even coined a cynical joke about the “ten Ms” in reference to the sum and the commodification of nobility. While G.E.C., editor of The Complete Peerage (Vol. VII, 1896), hints at this transaction, it is laid out in full by Samuel Rawson Gardiner in History of England from the Accession of James I, 1603 to 1616 (Vol. II, 1863, Chapter XIV).

Despite the legal and social restrictions imposed on recusant Catholics, Lord Teynham retained a prominent presence both in Kent and at court, embodying the delicate balance of religious conviction and political loyalty navigated by many Catholic gentry of the era.

In his lifetime, he commissioned a tomb monument for himself at Lynsted Church, Kent, believed to have been crafted by Richard Stephens, a Dutch-born sculptor renowned for his alabaster work and as mentor to Epiphanius Evesham. The stylistic connection between Stephens’ work and Evesham’s later monument for the 2nd Baron Teynham suggests a deliberate continuity of artistic patronage and familial pride. Lord Teynham died in 1618.

Later Provenance
The painting is believed to have entered the collection of George Edmund Wickstead of Shakenhurst Manor, Bayton, in the mid-19th century. This is supported by the G E W - Wickstead coat of arms on the reverse.

Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Emerald of Webaldic.com, whose heraldic expertise was invaluable in confirming that the arms on the reverse of the painting match those on Lord Teynham’s tomb in Lynsted Church.

Grateful acknowledgment is also extended to the Lynsted with Kingsdown Society, whose detailed research on John Roper has significantly enriched the understanding of his life and legacy.

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