Philadelphia “Philla” Austen (1730–1792), Jane Austen’s aunt, was sent to live with the Freeman family, cousins on the Hampson side, in Hertfordshire after the death of her parents. This connection was significant enough that Tysoe Saul Hancock (1723–1775), her future husband, later expressed gratitude in his letters for the kindness, particularly from Mary Clementina “Molly,” John Cope Freeman’s sister, shown to Philadelphia.

In August 1752, a young and penniless Philla arrived in Madras (now Chennai), southern India. The following year, she married Tysoe Saul Hancock, a doctor employed by the East India Company. Their only child, Elizabeth “Eliza” Hancock (1761–1813), married her first husband, Jean-François Capot de Feuillide, in 1781, and after his death during the French Revolution, she married her cousin and Jane Austen’s brother, Henry Thomas Austen (1771–1850).

In 1765, when Eliza was four years old, the Hancock family returned to England, accompanied by their Indian servant, Clarinda. Upon their arrival in London, the Hancocks began sitting for a portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792). The choice to include Clarinda in the portrait, dressed in Indian garments, reflects the family’s ties to India and suggests a close bond with her. Even after Tysoe Saul Hancock returned to India alone in 1768, he remained fond of Clarinda, sending her fabrics from India and expressing concern for her well-being. In a 1780 letter to Warren Hastings (1732–1818), Philadelphia mentioned Clarinda’s illness and her intention to ensure that she would not suffer financially from her poor health. Clarinda likely died in the second half of the 1780s, still in the service of Philadelphia and Elizabeth.

The painting’s provenance is somewhat obscure. It first surfaced in the late 1810s as “A Family Group, with Black Servant.” By the 1830s, it had been misidentified as “Lord and Lady Clive with a Child and a Hindoo Nurse,” a title that persisted until the 1970s. In 2017, Charlotte and Gwendolen Mitchell correctly identified the sitters as Philadelphia Hancock, her husband Tysoe Saul Hancock, their daughter Elizabeth, and Clarinda, their Indian servant.