Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds (1631-1712) Lord High Treasurer

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Northern Ireland Office, 1 Horse Guards Road

This portrait of Thomas Osborne is intended to indicate the high social status of the sitter. Osborne is represented in lavish robes and is seated in a highly decorative chair.  His right hand rests gently on the Lord Treasurer's staff and he looks towards the viewer with a confident and superior expression.
Thomas Osborne was the son of Sir Edward Osborne and was born in Danby in Yorkshire. He was elected Member of Parliament for York in 1665. Supported by the patronage of George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, Osbourne became Lord Treasurer of England in 1673. In 1689 he supported the plot to help William of Orange and his wife Mary to seize the English throne and by spring the following year, he had again established himself as chief minister within the new Government. Osborne was never a popular or trusted figure in court and Gilbert Burnet (appointed Royal Chaplain by William of Orange) described him as ‘the most hated minister that had ever been about the king.’

People

Thomas, 1st Duke of Leeds Osborne (1632 - 1712)

Places

Subjects

Materials & Techniques

Artist

Wolfgang William Claret ( - 1706)

Title

Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds (1631-1712) Lord High Treasurer

Date

c.1682

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

height: 120.00 cm, width: 101.00 cm

Acquisition

Presented by Baron Godolphin, 1833

Provenance

Collection of Francis Godolphin Osborne, 1st Baron Godolphin; by whom presented to Downing Street in 1833

GAC number

9