Henry St John (1678–1751), 1st Viscount Bolingbroke

Oil portrait after Godfrey Kneller of Henry St John (1678–1751), 1st Viscount Bolingbroke. 18-19th century

Head and shoulders portrait of a white man with a long curly wig and wearing a red, white and gold gown.

Henry St John, depicted here, was a leading Tory politician, philosopher, and orator. As Secretary of State under Queen Anne, he played a central role in shaping early 18th-century British politics. Elevated to Viscount Bolingbroke in 1712, he later became a key figure in Enlightenment thought, influencing writers such as Voltaire and Rousseau. Bolingbroke’s family, the St John family, were owners of the manors of Battersea and Wandsworth during the 17th and early 18th centuries. He was born in Battersea in 1678 and died there in 17511.The family’s legacy is still visible in the area through place names such as St John’s Hill and Bolingbroke Grove, as well as the heraldic falcon emblem associated with the family.

This portrait is based on an original by Sir Godfrey Kneller, the most prominent portraitist in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Kneller’s style, marked by elegance and formality, shaped the visual identity of the English elite across five reigns.