Sir William Scott (1745–1836), afterwards Baron Stowell, Elder Brother of the Earl of Eldon, Fellow (1764), Judge of the High Court of the Admiralty

Hoppner's portrait of Sir William Scott, later Baron Stowell — painted around 1784 when Scott was still a Fellow of University College Oxford before his distinguished legal career — is an early work from before Hoppner's fashionable London success. Scott became one of the great judges of the age, his decisions as Judge of the High Court of Admiralty shaping international maritime law during the Napoleonic Wars. His portrait for University College Oxford, where he had been a Fellow, connects his later eminence with his scholarly origins. His elder brother became Lord Chancellor as the Earl of Eldon.

The early Hoppner shows his debt to Reynolds in the confident composition and warm coloring while displaying less of the polished handling of his mature work. The face is rendered with careful observation of character. Academic dress grounds the figure in collegiate identity rather than aristocratic or professional display.