PORTRAITS AND FAMILY TREES

Stratford Evening Post, Volume II, Issue 226, 22 April 1933, Page 2

PORTRAITS AND FAMILY TREES

London Woman's CoSSection

An 82-year-old London woman who has spent the past thirty-years collecting portraits and family trees of European Royalty, has decided to leave the whole of her collection of 4000 pictures—the most complete in the world—to the British Museum, says an exchange. The woman is Mrs. Thomas Brocklebank, of Kensington and Florence. She began the collection for the amusement of some young children, and in her travels through Europe, she made a point of visiting any place where she thought it would be possible to find old prints or etchings. Eventually, she became the acknowledged expert on Royal portraits. "Now," said Sir Frederick Kenyon, a former director of the British Museum, "if a portrait is found which appears to be that of a member of some Royal Family, Mrs. Brocklebank is generally consulted if there is any doubt about it. "The collection was started with portraits of the Medici family. _ Gradually it extended until • now it is internationally famous. One of Mrs. Brocklebank's special studies has been jewels, dress, and ornaments. This has helped her in the "detective work" of tracing mystery portraits.