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Commissioned from George Romney (1734–1802), the artist [1][a]; acquired by Mary Hyde (née Foxcroft) (d. 1775), Ardwick, Lancashire, England; possibly by inheritance to her husband, Robert Hyde (d. 1783), Ardwick, Lancashire, England; possibly by inheritance to his brother, Nathan Hyde (1752–1797), Ardwick, Lancashire, England; by descent to his son, John Colville-Hyde (formerly Hyde) (1794–1848), Syndale House, Kent, England; by descent to his son, Francis Colville-Hyde (1826–1892), Wilderton, Dorset, England [2]; by inheritance to his wife, Charlotte Amelia Colville-Hyde (née Darling) (1831–1912), Wilderton, Dorset, England [b]; possibly by descent to her son, Arthur Colville-Hyde (1866–1913), Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England; possibly by inheritance to his wife, Lillian Amelia Hyde (née Todd) (1878–1934), Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England; possibly by descent to her son, Arthur Frederick Colville Hyde (1901–1971), Yorkshire, England [3][c]; purchased by Ellis and Smith, London, England, 1937 [d]; ...; acquired by Eileen Mary Kent (née Maiden, later Richards) (b. 1894), Hills End, Berkshire, England [4][e]; purchased at auction by Thos. Agnew & Sons, London, England at Sotheby's, in London, England, December 17, 1947 (lot 114, ‘Portrait of Mrs. Robert Hyde, in white and hold dress, with a green scarf, in a painter oval’), in "Fine Paintings, Old Master Drawings, etc." for Harold Vincent Mackintosh, first Viscount Mackintosh of Halifax (1891–1964) [f][g]; acquired by Oscar and Peter Johnson, London, England, 1966; purchased by Paul Mellon (1907–1999), 1966 [h]; by whom given to the Yale Center for British Art, 1981.

Notes:
[1] This portrait was previously attributed to John Singleton Copley, who painted other members of the Hyde family, due to the artist’s signature in the upper left corner of the canvas. However, the signature is likely a later addition. According to Romney's list of north-western sitters from the mid-1760s, he received commissions to paint ‘Mr. Foxcroft’ and ‘Miss Foxcroft.’ While Miss Foxcroft refers to this portrait’s sitter, Mary Hyde (née Foxcroft), it is unknown if Mr. Foxcroft refers to Mary’s father, George Foxcroft, or her brother, Robert Foxcroft. As a result, it is unclear who specifically commissioned this portrait.

[2] Francis Colville-Hyde inherited Syndale House upon his father’s death and later sold it in 1863 to Colonel William Hall.

[3] Previous provenance entries and object file materials indicate that Ellis and Smith purchased the painting from a direct descendant of the sitter named ‘F. Colville-Hyde' from Yorkshire. Arthur Frederick Colville-Hyde was possibly this descendant as census documents show that his family referred to him by his middle name, possibly to differentiate him from his father. Furthermore, the timing of this painting’s sale takes place shortly after the death of Arthur Frederick’s mother.

[4] The painting is listed in the Sotheby’s catalogue as "The Property of Lady Kent, Hills End, Sunningdale, Berks."

Citations:
[a] Alex Kidson, "Part 1 Named Sitters A–I (except Emma Hart)," in George Romney: A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings, vol. 1 (Yale University Press, 2015), 227–228.
[b] "Local and District News," Southampton Herald, May 21, 1892.
[c] Jules David Prown, John Singleton Copley: In England, 1774–1815 (Harvard University Press, 1966), 423.
[d] Ibid.
[e] Sotheby & Co., Catalogue of Fine Paintings, Old Master Drawings, etc. (Sotheby & Co., 1947), 14. https://archive.org/finepaintingsdra00soth_7.
[f] Ibid.
[g] Prown, John Singleton Copley, 423.
[h] Malcolm Cormack, A Concise Catalogue of Paintings in the Yale Center for British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 1985), 68. https://archive.org/concisecatalogue0000yale.