Diana Sperling (1791-1862)

Norbury Park is situated on a high hill with magnificent views over the Surrey countryside. It was begun by Thomas Sandby in 1774 and belonged to the Lock family. The famous 'painted room' was begun in 1783, the landscape being painted by George Barret, Sen., the figures by Cipriani and the ceiling by Pastorini. Norbury was for many years the centre of an intellectual coterie which included such figures as Samuel Johnson, the Burney family, distinguished French émigrés, including Madame de Staël, and artists such as Sir Thomas Lawrence, P.R.A. (1769-1830), J.M.W. Turner, R.A. (1775-1851), who painted the park and Henry Fuseli (1741-1825).