Sir William Johnson, 1st Bt
2 of 2 portraits of Sir William Johnson, 1st Bt
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Sir William Johnson, 1st Bt
by Charles Spooner, sold by William Herbert, after T. Adams
mezzotint, published 2 February 1756
Given by the daughter of compiler William Fleming MD, Mary Elizabeth Stopford (née Fleming), 1931
Reference Collection
NPG D3318
Sitterback to top
- Sir William Johnson, 1st Bt (1715-1774), Superintendent of Indian affairs in North America. Sitter in 2 portraits.
Artistsback to top
- T. Adams. Artist or producer associated with 1 portrait.
- William Herbert (1718-1795), Bibliographer and printseller. Artist or producer associated with 28 portraits, Sitter in 3 portraits.
- Charles Spooner (died 1767), Irish mezzotint engraver. Artist or producer associated with 31 portraits.
Events of 1756back to top
Current affairs
Government falls after criticism of its handling of the Seven Years War. Prime Minister Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle is succeeded by William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, who forms a ministry effectively run by William Pitt the Elder.Art and science
Satiristist Thomas Rowlandson is born in Old Jewry in the City of London. His main rival James Gillray is born exactly a month later in Chelsea.Completion of William Edwards' Old Bridge, Pontypridd; the longest single span bridge in Britain for the next forty years.
International
'Black Hole of Calcutta': a group of British prisoners, including East India Company servant John Zephaniah Holwell, are locked in a small, overcrowded dungeon overnight when Fort William in Calcutta is captured by troops of the Nawab of Bengal. Holwell claims 123 of the 146 prisoners died.Outbreak of the Seven Years War in which Britain, Hanover, Prussia and Denmark are pitted against France, Austria, Russia and Sweden.
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