This atmospheric pair of nineteenth-century watercolours depicts panoramic views of Bombay (present-day Mumbai), capturing the city's coastal landscape and everyday life during the period of British colonial rule. The first composition presents an expansive view of Bombay from Malabar Hill, while the second depicts figures gathered along the shoreline, with the distant coast and harbour beyond.

According to family tradition, the paintings are believed to have been executed by a military figure whilst serving overseas during the Indian Uprising of 1857. Dating to circa 1860, the works offer a fascinating visual record of Bombay during a period of significant historical and political change.

Family History

The paintings have a distinguished family history, having been passed down through the Hood-Gregory family, subsequently known as Gregory-Hood.

Mrs (Gertrude) Margaret Hewlett was the daughter of the Hon. Alexander Frederick Hood Gregory, JP, whose son, Margaret's brother, adopted the reversed family surname Gregory-Hood.

The Hon. Alexander Frederick Hood Gregory inherited Stivichall Hall in Coventry from his cousin, Major Francis Hood-Gregory, who died without descendants.

The family traced its ancestry directly to Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, the distinguished British naval commander after whom HMS Hood was named. The battlecruiser was famously sunk in 1941 during the Second World War, resulting in one of the greatest single losses of life in Royal Navy history.

The paintings' reported association with Grosvenor Percy Hood, who served in the Central Indian Horse before his death in Agra in 1904, provides a further connection between the family's military history and British India.

Together, the two watercolours form an evocative pair, combining nineteenth-century views of Bombay with a recorded history of descent through a family closely associated with British naval and military service.