Sir William Molesworth, 8th Bt
1 portrait by William Walker
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Sir William Molesworth, 8th Bt
by and published by William Walker
mezzotint, published 15 March 1856
14 7/8 in. x 11 7/8 in. (377 mm x 303 mm) plate size; 22 7/8 in. x 18 1/8 in. (581 mm x 459 mm) paper size
Reference Collection
NPG D38853
Sitterback to top
- Sir William Molesworth, 8th Bt (1810-1855), Politician, First Commissioner of Works and Colonial Secretary. Sitter in 20 portraits.
Artistback to top
- William Walker (1791-1867), Photographer, engraver and publisher. Artist or producer associated with 131 portraits.
Placesback to top
- Place made: United Kingdom: England, London (64 Margaret Street, Cavendish Square, London)
Events of 1856back to top
Current affairs
Queen Victoria introduces the Victoria cross, an award for British soldiers who displayed exceptional valour in battle. Each medal was produced from Russian guns captured in the British war. In 2006, Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry became the first living recipient of the Victoria Cross since 1965, for his actions in the Iraq war.Art and science
The National Portrait Gallery is founded by Philip Henry Stanhope, 5th Earl of Stanhope, Thomas Babington Macaulay, and Thomas Carlyle, all biographers and historians. Historical rather than artistic in focus, the Gallery's aim was to collect original portraits of outstanding figures from British history, notably from politics, the arts, literature and science.Elizabeth Barrett Browning publishes her epic and autobiographical poem Aurora Leigh.
International
The Treaty of Paris ends the Crimean war. Russia concedes to the Anglo-French-Austrian Four Points of August 1854 including the guarantee of Ottoman sovereignty and territorial integrity. Russia also agreed to a demilitarisation of the land islands in the Baltics, a term which lasted until the outbreak of the First World War.Britain launches the second Opium war against China.
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