Hon. William Legge (1784–1853)

Hon. William Legge, painted by Lawrence in 1802 and at the Eton College Collections, was a member of the Legge family, Earls of Dartmouth — an aristocratic dynasty with strong connections to both evangelical Christianity and West Midlands political authority. The Legges' evangelical sympathies connected them to the Clapham Sect of William Wilberforce and Hannah More, and their support for missionary and educational work reflected the aristocratic philanthropic tradition at its most personally committed. Eton College's collections, assembled from portraits commissioned for the school or donated by families with Eton connections, create one of the most comprehensive surveys of Georgian aristocratic education in Britain; almost every family of consequence sent at least some of its sons to Eton, and the portrait gallery that resulted documents the ruling class in its formation. Lawrence painted many young men who were at Eton or had recently left, and the Eton collections' holdings of his work represent the specific commission type of school portraits — commissions made to document young men at the beginning of their adult social careers.

Lawrence captures the young man at the threshold of adult life with characteristic warmth and sympathy. The fresh complexion and open expression convey youthful promise, while the composition — modest in scale and relatively informal in treatment — suits the intimate context of a school collection.