Portrait of Lucy, Lady Reynell of Ford, three-quarter-length, in a dark dress with a white lace collar and gold and pearl necklaces, holding a fan in her right hand

The Reynells were a powerful family in the West of England in the 15th and 16th Centuries. Lady Reynell was the daughter of Robert Brandon, Chamberlain of the City of London, and married Sir Richard Reynell (d.1633) of Ford House, near Newton Abbot, Devonshire. Her husband, who had an office in the Exchequer, amassed a considerable fortune and purchased the manor of Ford, where he built himself a mansion. King Charles I and the Duke of Buckingham lodged at Ford on 15 September 1625 after which Richard Reynell was knighted. Lady Reynell was remarkable for her virtues and especially for her generosity to the poor. A hospital founded by her for poor clergymen's widows still existed in Woolborough in the 19th Century. She died in 1652 aged 74.