Stanley Kennedy North ( 1887 - 1942)

Was a decorate painter and conservator of pictures. Born Harry Stanley North in London, the son of a London omnibus driver, he liked to hint that he was the illegitimate son of an aristocrat. He was a colourful character, a socialist and bohemian, who enjoyed challenging social mores. He was known for his liaisons with well-connected married women. He married, in 1911, Vera Rawnsley, whom he had met while she was a student at the South Kensington School of Art. The marriage was short-lived. In December 1920, he married Helen Dorothy Kennedy and changed his name to Stanley Kennedy North.

Kennedy North was an experimental chemist and physicist, which he used to develop novel techniques to restore paintings. He was one of the first to use X-Ray equipment to examine paintings. After a long, successful but sometimes controversial career, he died of cancer in London on 16 June 1942.