Mary Ann Thynne (1778–1863) was the daughter of Thomas Master, MP for Cirencester. In 1801 she married John Thynne, later 3rd Baron Carteret of Hawnes (1772–1849), who was the third son of Thomas Thynne, 1st Marquess of Bath and Lady Elizabeth Cavendish-Bentinck, of Longleat, Wiltshire. John Thynne was Vice Chamberlain of the Household at the court of George III and Mary Ann was appointed Lady of the Bedchamber to Princess Charlotte from 1815, until the princess's death in 1817. Mary Ann Thynne was evidently a skilled and sensitive watercolourist. There are two decorated ivory boxes by her in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
John Thynne's eldest brother, Thomas Thynne (1765–1837), became 2nd Marquess of Bath; Thomas's youngest daughter, Charlotte Anne, married Walter Francis Montagu Douglas Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch, 7th Duke of Queensberry (1806–1844). The Duke of Buccleuch was one of the most powerful and wealthy aristocrats in Britain, often described as Scotland’s premier landowner. Mary Ann Thynne evidently visited the Buccleuchs over a period of months in 1837, sketching locations significant to the family.
This collection of drawings includes views at the seats of the Duke of Buccleuch: Bowhill in the Scottish Borders, Dalkeith Palace in Midlothian and Caroline Park at Granton near Edinburgh. She also sketched many other Scottish landed estates, including Dalmeny on the Firth of Forth, seat of the Earl of Rosebery; Dalmahoy near Edinburgh, seat of the Earl of Morton; Newbattle, seat of the Marquess of Lothian; Glamis Castle, Angus, seat of the Earl of Strathmore; Hawthornden Castle, Midlothian, seat of Drummond; and Ashiestiel, home of Sir Walter Scott in the Scottish Borders. The pictures are a charming personal insight into the houses and landscapes of Britain's wealthiest aristocrats in the 19th century.
