John Lennard (1508–1590) was the founder of the Lennard family, of which would become a politically influential family with royal connections. They would also become the representatives of the Dacre Barony of Belhus, in Aveley, Essex, through Henry Lennard (1570–1616), 12th Lord Dacre. The Lennards originally came from Chevening, Kent. John Lennard became a wealthy man and had royal favour at the age of 25. When he was 30 he was wealthy enough to be able to give a loan to Henry VIII. This chalk painting was painted after a sixteenth-century effigy, possibly by English painter Edward Edwards (1738–1806). It includes the inscription: 'John Lennard Esq of Chevening in Kent. nat: 1507'. This painting has been preserved with its original frame.