Art Collections Online

Mary Fryer Todd (née Evans) (1770-1843)

ALLEN, Joseph (1770 - 1839)

Media: oil on canvas

Size: 76.5 x 63.9 cm

Acquired: 1991; Purchase

Accession Number: NMW A 556

The sitter's brother Tom was a school friend of the poet S.T.Coleridge, who fell deeply in love with Mary Evans (1770-1843) after staying with her family in London during his first vacation from Cambridge at Christmas 1791. Unable to declare himself, in the summer of 1794 he 'turned sick and all but fainted away' at a glimpse of her leaving church in Wrexham, where she was visiting her grandmother. Coleridge dedicated the following poem, titled 'The Sigh' to her:

And though in distant climes I roam,

A wanderer from my native home,

I fain would soothe the sense of Care,

And lull to sleep the Joys that were!

Thy image may not banished be -

Still, Mary! Still I sigh for thee.

Joseph Allen trained in the Royal Academy Schools and established a considerable reputation in the north-west of England. He is documented in Wrexham in 1798 and 1799.

Comments (4)

Comments are currently unavailable. We apologise for the inconvenience.
D Milne
28 February 2020, 18:53
My Great Great Great Grandfather married Mary Evans' sister.
Nia Evans Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales Staff
27 December 2019, 10:47

Hi,
Many thanks for your enquiry. I have passed it on to my colleagues within the art department, they will be in touch to advise further.
Kind regards,
Nia
(Digital Team)

Tim Woolf
26 December 2019, 18:44
ALLEN, Joseph (1770 - 1839),
Mary Fryer Todd (née Evans) (1770-1843)
Gallery 4

Hi, can I seek permission to use this image in a book I am writing on Coleridge?
Many thanks,
Tim Woolf
twoolf@me.com
Graham Davidson
20 March 2009, 12:29
ALLEN, Joseph (1770 - 1839),
Mary Fryer Todd (née Evans) (1770-1843)
Gallery 4

Can I seek permission to use this image in a book on Coleridge?

Graham Davidson - gcdd@blueyonder.co.uk
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