A GEORGE III MAHOGANY HUMP-BACK SOFA

Fountains Hall, North Yorkshire, was built in 1611 from the stone from the monastic ruins of neighbouring Fountains Abbey. In 1768, the estate was sold to William Aislabie of Studley Royal, who also acquired the land on which Fountains Abbey stood. The joint estates passed to William Aislabie's granddaughter, Elizabeth Sophia Lawrence, who died unmarried in 1845. She left Fountains Hall, Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal to Frederick John Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon, who was a distant relation. On his death, the estates passed to his son, Frederick Samuel Robinson, later 1st Marquess of Ripon, who married his cousin Henrietta Vyner; their son was the 2nd Marquess, heir to the estates. The Robinsons and Vyners intermarried and lived on adjoining properties in Yorkshire in the 19th century; these included Newby Hall, and Fountains Hall.