"john ashton" blog posts

The Hidden Story of Anna AshtonAnna Ashton, later Mrs Thomas Case, c.1769 by Joseph Wright of Derby. (oil on canvas) VG&M Collection

The Hidden Story of Anna Ashton

Anna Ashton was from a wealthy Liverpool family of the 1760s but poses here as a shepherdess complete with lamb. There is nothing obvious that links this rather charming portrait to the Transatlantic slave trade, but that is the hidden story.

Posted on: 19 August 2022