What is Selaby Hall?
George Moore wrote from Selaby, the home of Charles and Mary Hunter, in October 1898 (the year of Sargent’s grand portrait of Mary). The Hunters rented Selaby Hall on the Raby Estate 1891-1906; Raby was the ancestral home of Henry de Vere Vane, 9th Baron Barnard. Previously Charles had rented Longhirst Hall, Morpeth.
Charles Edward Hunter (1852-1917), a native of County Durham, was a wealthy colliery owner and local magistrate. His wife Mary Smyth Hunter (1856-1933) was a prominent hostess and patron of the arts in London and elsewhere. Henry Tonks drew Mary with George Moore in Your Gain Is My Loss. George’s letters to Mary are preserved at Yale University.
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