A small watercolour portrait was added to my collection this past week. On the recto, we see a beautiful young lady wearing a large hat – no signature, no date, no clues as to who this young woman was or who the artist was. But all is not lost, for on the verso is a small label with the framing companies name and address and a few hand written notes as to owner and sitter. From the note, we find that this watercolour is a copy of a painting held by CH Parry. Being a musician and living near Ely Cathedral, when I think of CH Parry – it is #SirCharlesHubertHastingsParry (1848-1918) the composer. You might know as the composer of the song ‘Jerusalem’, the coronation anthem ‘I was glad’ or the hymn tune ‘Repton’.

But of course, there was an earlier CH Parry. #CharlesHenryParry (1779-1860) was a physician and author.

So to the other notes on the back. The note mentions an #AmeliaParry (1800-1888). I, so far, have not found any information on this Amelia Parry (assuming the date are correct). There are a number of Amelia Parry’s but none with these dates.I think, at the moment, I will just appreciate the beauty of this piece and maybe some day I might find out who this young lady is.