page_title: Lissan House
section_title: Sir Robert Ponsonby Staples, 12th Baronet
hierarchical_section_title: Lissan House / Sir Robert Ponsonby Staples, 12th Baronet
caption_attribution_description: An Imaginary Cricket Match by Sir Robert Ponsonby Staples.jpg
context_page_description: Lissan House is a historic house and tourist attraction in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, that was the seat of the Staples baronets. Lissan lies nestled at the foot of the Sperrin Mountains amid ancient woodland near the historic market town of Cookstown.
context_section_description: By 1911, James Head Staples' health had declined to such an extent that he was no longer able to run the Estate. His eccentric younger brother, Robert Ponsonby Staples thus settled at Lissan in November 1912. Robert Ponsonby Staples was an exceptionally talented artist. He had gone to Leuven to study architecture at the age of twelve before moving to Dresden to study fine art. When he returned to London during the 1880s he quickly became one of the most renowned portrait artists of his day. He exhibited his first picture at the Royal Academy at 21 and was a founder member, along with Sir Coutts Lindsay, of the Grosvenor Gallery, which launched the careers of Whistler and Burne-Jones. His most famous paintings can be found in galleries across the world today. His most noted work, An Imaginary Cricket Match, hangs at Lord's Cricket Ground, while other large scale works can be found at the House of Lords (The Passing of the Home Rule Bill) and the Archiepiscopal Palace at Westminster (Cardinal Manning's Last Reception). Robert Ponsonby was also an infamous socialite and member of the Café Royal set. He was a friend and favourite of King Edward VII. His most famous attribute was his refusal to wear shoes. He believed that the earth exuded natural electricity which was beneficial to the health and thus shunned the wearing of shoes, listing his principal occupation as "barefoot walking" in the 1926 Who's Who.
  Today his paintings are hugely valuable but, while living at the centre of the social scene in fin de siecle London, his work did not make him a wealthy man. After settling at Lissan, his finances evaporated and he was known to often ask the postman for a loan or to pawn his own paintings to raise funds. A great sale was held during his tenure which lasted two full days and which saw the remaining pictures and fine furnishings sold off, many to the Lenox-Conyngham family at Springhill where they remain. He inherited the baronetcy aged 80 in 1933 and died 10 years later.
caption: An Imaginary Cricket Match, Sir Robert Ponsonby Staples
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