A GEORGE IV MAHOGANY AND BRASS INLAID BOWFRONT SECRETAIRE CLOTHES PRESSCIRCA 1825 With label to back for 'R. S. Surtees Esq, Hamsterly Hall, No 13, Blaydon Station'225cm high, 122cm wide, 57cm deep Provenance:The Collection of Robert Smith Surtees at Hamsterley Hall, Co. Durham.Inherited by his daughter, Eleanor Vereker, Viscountess Gort at Hamsterley HallThence by descent to The Hon. Catherine Mary 'Kate' Wass, OBE (1942-2021) upon the death of her great-uncle, the 7th Viscount Gort, in 1975Robert Smith Surtees (17 May 1805 - 16 March 1864) was an English editor, novelist and sporting writer, widely known as R. S. Surtees. He was the second son of Anthony Surtees of Hamsterley Hall, a member of an old County Durham family. He is remembered for his invented character of Jorrocks, a vulgar but good-natured sporting cockney grocer.