Henry Fitzhugh (1614-1664)

Henry Fitzhugh never came to Virginia. However, his son, William Fitzhugh (1651-1701), appears to have brought his father’s portrait with him when he emigrated around 1670. It is known only through a 1751 copy painted by John Hesselius. It is unclear what happened to the original. The date 1634 comes from the inscription on the 1751 copy: “Henry Fitzhugh Son of William Fitzhugh of Bedford Aetatis 20 1634 Copd by John Hesselius 1751.” The original was very likely among the 8 family pictures that William Fitzhugh left to his son in his 1701 will.

Reference: “I Give my son William my own & wife’s pictures & the other 6 Pictures of my Relations together,” in William Fitzhugh’s Will and Inventory, 1701

See: Richard K. Doud, “The Fitzhugh Portraits by John Hesselius,” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 75, no. 2 (April 1967): 159-173; Richard Beale Davis, ed., William Fitzhugh and His Chesapeake World, 1676–1701: The Fitzhugh Letters and Other Documents (1963), 379