Lord Halifax and his secretaries

1 portrait matching these criteria:

- subject matching 'Writing'

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Lord Halifax and his secretaries

attributed to Daniel Gardner, after Hugh Douglas Hamilton
gouache, circa 1765-1767
17 3/4 in. x 38 in. (451 mm x 965 mm)
Purchased, 1947
Primary Collection
NPG 3328

Sittersback to top

Artistsback to top

  • Daniel Gardner (circa 1750-1805), Portrait painter. Artist or producer associated with 16 portraits, Sitter in 1 portrait.
  • Hugh Douglas Hamilton (1739-1808), Artist. Artist or producer associated with 40 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Lord Halifax (right) in mauve suit with his ribbon and star as a Knight of the Garter, dictates to a secretary while another secretary holds sealing wax to a candle. The two secretaries are probably Edward Sedgwick and Lovell Stanhope, as identified by Horace Walpole when a version of the composition was exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1767. The composition bears the date 1765, when Halifax was secretary of state for the southern department, Sedgwick under-secretary for American affairs, a sub-division of the department, and Stanhope another under-secretary (only in 1765).

More detailed information on this portrait is available in a National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue, John Kerslake's Early Georgian Portraits (1977, out of print).

Linked publicationsback to top

Events of 1765back to top

Current affairs

George Grenville is dismissed as Prime Minister. He is succeeded by Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham.
Isle of Man is brought under British control.
Stamp Act requires that printed materials in the colonies, such as legal documents and newspapers, are produced on paper made in London carrying an embossed revenue stamp.



Art and science

Nevil Maskelyne becomes Astronomer Royal.
Writer Samuel Johnson publishes his edition of Shakespeare.
Inventor James Watt makes a breakthrough in the development of the steam engine by constructing a model with a separate condenser.
Judge and politician William Blackstone publishes his influential work Commentaries on the Laws of England.

International

Robert Clive secures the rights for the East India Company to collect taxes in Bengal from Mughal Emperor Shah Alam.
American campaigners against the Stamp Act organise themselves as the Sons of Liberty in Massachusetts and New York.


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