The sale took place over two days, 28–29 November 1922

Lugt, Catalogues, no.84323

Copy consulted: British Library, London

Day 1

The property of ‘Mrs F. Hughes’, by descent from Charles Stokes (c.1784–1853) and her uncle Thomas Hughes (1845–94)

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851)

• 119 – ‘Dover, the castle and cliffs from the harbour. Indian ink and blue’, 6 × 8 ¼ in (15.2 × 21 cm)
• 120 – ‘Dover, Shakespeare’s Cliff in the distance, bots on the shore. Indian ink and blue’, 4 ¾ × 8 in (12.1 × 20.3 cm)
• 130 – ‘St Alban’s Abbey from the South-East; the tower and spire above the roof of the church, pencil’, 10 ½ × 8 in (26.7 × 20.3 cm). Bought by ‘Colnaghi’ for £26 (TG1037)
• 139 – ‘Ruins of St Martin’s Priory, Canterbury, lead pencil … from the Stokes and T. Hughes collection’, 7 × 9 ½ in (17.8 × 24.1 cm). Bought by ‘Dunthorne’ for £5 (TG0298)
• 140 – ‘Chichester Cathedral, general View from the South-West, lead pencil’, 6 × 9 in (15.2 × 22.9 cm). Bought by ‘Dunthorne’ for £17 10s
• 141 – ‘Kelso Abbey, Ruins of the Transept. About 1792, lead pencil … from the Stokes and T. Hughes collection’, 9 × 6 in (22.9 × 15.2 cm). Bought by ‘Agnew’ for £13 (TG0270)
• 149 – ‘A Barn with a figure, cattle and poultry, pencil’, 7 ½ × 10 ½ in (19.1 × 26.7 cm) (TG0924)
• 156 – ‘Alpine Landscape; on the right a square bastion of masonry topped by a stockade. Dated 1796. After J. R. Cozens. Water-colours’, 7 ½ × 10 ¾ in (19.1 × 27.3 cm). Sold for £26

The ‘Collection of Drawings by J. M. W. Turner, R.A.’ included a number of Girtin drawings mistakenly attributed to Turner. The catalogue notes that these ‘interesting drawings are principally from the Collections of the late Charles Stokes, Esq., and the late Thomas Hughes, Esq, uncle of the present owner, Mrs F. Hughes, of Wallfield, Reigate, Surrey, by whose order the Drawings are now sold’. In fact ‘Mrs. F. Hughes’ was Alice Ellen Hughes (1856-1952) who was the widow of Frederick John Hughes (1840–1921) and it was he who appears to have inherited the works from his, not her, uncle Thomas Edward Hughes (1845–94). The original source of the drawings, Charles Stokes (1783–1853), was a stockbroker and financial adviser who bequeathed his collection to his niece Hannah Cooper (née Hughes, 1804–1861) setting in train a complex story of inheritance that thanks to the error in the 1922 sale catalogue has confused the provenance of many drawings by Turner as well as Girtin.