About Beatrice
Beatrice Forbes (1863-1944) was the daughter of Robert Grey, Treasurer of the Foundling Hospital from 1892 until his death in 1914. During Grey’s years of service, the family lived on site in the Treasurer’s House. In 1903, Beatrice married Major Patrick William Forbes in the Hospital Chapel. ‘Pat’ Forbes, who had served in the British Army in current day Zimbabwe, became a Hospital Governor in 1904. Thirty years later, Beatrice herself was elected to the post. She was the fifth woman to hold the position of Governor, after the first two female Governors were elected in 1921. In bequeathing her portrait to the Hospital in her will, Beatrice gave the charity its first and only painting of a female Governor.
About the artist
William Carter (1863-1939) was best known for painting portraits, animals and still lifes. He was the son of artist Samuel John Carter and the brother of Egyptologist Howard Carter. William Carter lived mostly at Swaffham in Norfolk, but also in London, where he exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Royal Society of British Artists.
