Mary Ann (Fanny) Stirling nee Hehl

Mrs Mary Ann Stirling (1816-1895), known as Fanny, was a celebrated English actress during the 19th century. She first appeared on the London stage in the 1830s and took on leading roles in, among others, the Shakespearean plays 'As You Like It', 'King Lear' and 'Romeo and Juliet'. Fanny was married to Edward Stirling, an actor, manager and author, who died in 1894. A year before her own death in 1895, she married Sir Charles Hutton Gregory, a civil engineer.

This head and shoulders portrait of Fanny depicts her facing half right, with her eyes cast downwards and a slight smile on her lips. The plain background and her dress have been broadly handled to focus attention on her face.

The painter is Martha Jane Ronniger (nee Tatlow), a painter, speech and singing teacher, writer and suffragette.