The Queen's College Record 2023

over generations of hungry Queen’s students. And a portrait by Henry Morland,
lent for the exhibition at Yale in 2017, was given to Queen’s in 1765 by Charlotte’s
chaplain Dr Thomas, an Old Member. Considered ‘a very good likeness,’ this
charming portrait depicts a youthful Charlotte with an architectural drawing of the
Library in her hand. While her sumptuous garb and the diamond-studded tiara on a
side table underline her regal status, this is Charlotte in a more informal mode than
the much grander portrait in Hall: her smiling face is turned slightly to the side, as
though listening to someone out of frame – perhaps Dr Thomas himself – extol the
merits of his old College.
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The inclusion of the Library drawing hints at Charlotte’s association with the College
but, for reasons now obscure, she was not invited to become Patroness until 1768,
three years after the portrait was painted and seven years after her marriage. Thomas
Fothergill, newly elected Provost and accompanied by two Fellows, grandly presented
Charlotte with a petition ‘for Her Royal Patronage … written upon Vellum and the
College Seal annexed to it in a Silver Box, with the College Arms engraved upon the
Lid of it.’ By her ‘most gracious Answer’ Charlotte agreed to become Patroness.
The event was formative, doubtless intentionally so: the Fellows’ Memorandum Book
notes that ‘these particulars … may be of use on future Occasions of this kind,’ and
indeed a similar formula was used in subsequent petitions to Patronesses.
It is fitting that Fothergill petitioned Charlotte: he was still Provost when, in December
1788, a fire broke out in Front Quad and destroyed the Old Lodgings. Though ‘much
singed,’ Fothergill led efforts to meet the extensive rebuilding costs, which amounted
to more than £5,000. The Benefactors’ Book commemorates those who donated to
the rebuilding fund, and Charlotte’s contribution of £1,000 not only secured her place
at the head of the list but also equalled the benefaction given by her predecessor
Caroline. Perhaps ‘this most distinguished Mark of Royal Favour and Bounty,’
whose value ‘has seldom been equalled,’ was substantial enough to preclude any
further petitions for financial assistance from Charlotte. Indeed, her association with
Queen’s has only one further chapter. Fothergill’s successor, Septimus Collinson,
was presented to Charlotte shortly after his election in 1797, on which occasion he
requested and received a less tangible gift: ‘the Continuance of her protection and
favour to the College’.
These depictions of Charlotte mainly emphasise the generic image of her as mother
and royal wife, but they are not without value as a means of exploring that most
ambiguous and ill-defined role of Patroness. Morland’s portrait undoubtedly comes
closest to encapsulating an idealised vision of the Patroness as eighteenth-century
Queensmen wished her to be: attentive, regal, and benevolent. In this regard, the
portrait becomes a snapshot of a past era. For just as conceptions of Charlotte
herself have changed and developed in the modern day, so too the role of Patroness
has been – and continues to be – transformed in accordance with the ever-changing
needs of the College over nearly 700 years.
College Record 2023 | The Queen’s College 93