While Gerrit Schipper’s profile portrait of Brigadier General Isaac Brock (pl. 3) was a long-cherished heirloom, handed down from one generation of collateral descendants to the next, the manner of its transfer was usually accomplished without the necessity of a will. Small value items such as Brock’s portrait were not, as a rule, enumerated in estate inventories. They were more likely to have been distributed with less formality and only passing regard for Guernsey’s ancient legal tradition of primogeniture. Despite this entrenched form of male birthright, practical considerations frequently altered the inheritance of personalty—or chattel property. Such was the case with the portrait now recognized as the true face of Sir Isaac Brock.
Isaac Brock, Quebec City, Lower Canada (Quebec), 1809/1810–1812
Sometime between late May of 1809 and early July of 1810, Gerrit Schipper painted a pastel portrait of Brigadier General Isaac Brock in profile, facing right. Brock took this profile portrait to Fort George in Upper Canada (Ontario) when he was posted there in July of 1810, and also to his subsequent postings at Montreal and York (Toronto). After Brock’s death in October of 1812, the portrait was sent to his older brother in England.
William Brock, Stamford Hill, England, 1813–c.1819
William Brock received all of his brother’s personal effects in 1813, and six years later he died without issue. It was probably due to the lack of an heir that the profile portrait passed to one of William Brock’s younger brothers. William Brock’s sole beneficiary was his widow, Sarah Maria (Putt) Brock, and she may have conveyed the portrait in accordance with her husband’s last wishes. There is also the possibility that William Brock made a gift of the portrait before he died.
Irving Brock, London/Bath, England, c.1819–1838
The profile portrait remained in Irving Brock’s possession until his own death in 1838. As was the case with William Brock’s estate, all of Irving Brock’s worldly possessions were left to his widow, Frances (Longley) Brock. One notable exception, however, was the profile portrait, which passed to a nephew in Guernsey. This transfer was later described as a bequest, and presumably it was Frances Brock who made the necessary arrangements after her husband’s death.
Henry Tupper, St. Peter Port, Guernsey, 1838–1875
Henry Tupper was a nephew of Irving Brock through his mother, Elizabeth Brock, who married John Elisha Tupper. Upon Henry Tupper’s death in 1875, the portrait became the property of his widow.
Mary Ann Tupper, St. Peter Port, Guernsey, 1875–1882
After the death of Mary Ann (Collings) Tupper in 1882, the profile portrait went to her eldest son.
De Vic Tupper, St. Peter Port, Guernsey, 1882–1892
At the time of his death in 1892, De Vic Tupper was a widower—his wife, Emily Sophia (Bingham) Tupper, having predeceased him in 1890. Therefore, the profile portrait passed directly to their only son.
Henry Bingham de Vic Tupper, St. Peter Port, Guernsey, 1892–1903
Henry Bingham de Vic Tupper died unmarried in 1903, and so the profile portrait became the property of his three sisters. At some point, however, it was lent to their cousins, Emilia and Henrietta Tupper (the daughters of Ferdinand Brock Tupper), who understood that the loan was to be for the duration of their lifetimes.
Beatrice, Constance, and Edith Tupper, St. Peter Port, Guernsey, 1903–1960
With Emilia Tupper’s demise in 1920, followed by that of Henrietta Tupper in 1928, the profile portrait was returned to the surviving sisters of Henry Bingham de Vic Tupper (Constance Tupper having succumbed in 1914). After Beatrice Tupper died in 1942, Edith Tupper continued to own the portrait until she passed away in 1960. Prior to her death Edith Tupper willed the portrait to her first cousin, once removed.
Captain Michael H.T. Mellish, St. Peter Port, Guernsey, 1960–2007
As the grandson of De Vic Tupper’s sister, Ethel (Tupper) Mellish, Captain Michael H.T. Mellish was deemed to be the next person in line for the profile portrait. In 2006, it was given to his son for safekeeping.
Nicholas T.L. Mellish, Maldon, Essex, England, 2007–2009
Nicholas T.L. Mellish inherited the profile portrait after the death of his father in 2007. The younger Mellish retained the portrait until early in 2009 when, after various attempts to sell it, he finally struck a deal with the Guernsey Museum and Art Gallery.
The Guernsey Museum and Art Gallery, St. Peter Port, Guernsey, 2009–
The profile portrait is now preserved among the collections of the Guernsey Museum and Art Gallery.