Queen Mary II (1662-1694).

Repro ID: BHC2853

Description: Queen Mary II succeeded to the throne in 1688, following the flight of her father, James II. She ruled as joint sovereign with her husband, William of Orange. During her short reign, the building of a seamen's Hospital in Greenwich became the 'darling object of her life'. She did not see the dream completed - she died of smallpox in December 1694, but her early death persuaded William to carry on with the project. The Hospital was not finished for many decades, but admitted the first pensioners in 1705.

Creator: Sir Godfrey Kneller

Date: c. 1690

Credit line: National Maritime Museum, London, Greenwich Hospital Collection