First Previous 2 OF 2 NextLast

Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Bt showing his pictures

2 of 2 portraits of Jemima Blackburn (née Wedderburn)

Identify sitters

© National Portrait Gallery, London

1 Like voting
is closed

Thanks for Liking

Please Like other favourites!
If they inspire you please support our work.

Buy a print Buy a greetings card Make a donation Close

Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Bt showing his pictures

by Jemima Blackburn (née Wedderburn)
watercolour, 1844
4 3/4 x 5 7/8 in. (119 x 150 mm)
Given by Mary and Jane Clerk, 1935
Primary Collection
NPG 2772(28a)

Artistback to top

Sittersback to top

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Foister, Susan, Cardinal Newman 1801-90, 1990 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 2 March - 20 May 1990), p. 41 Read entry

    Lord Brougham, who had defended Queen Caroline in her trial in 1821, was made Lord Chancellor in 1830. At this period he took a strong interest in educational projects, and was responsible for the foundation of London University in 1828, as well as for the Society of the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge; it was because of this interest that Lord Brougham was satirized, along with Sir Robert Peel, by Newman in his Tamworth Reading Room. The drawing is inscribed below 'Sir Robert Peel showing his pictures, Whitehall Gardens'.

  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 717

Events of 1844back to top

Current affairs

Britain experiences a railway boom. Peel's government passes a series of Acts creating provision of cheap, regular rail services. George Hudson, the first great railway entrepreneur, who controlled over 1,000 miles of railway track and whose enterprises made York a major commercial and transport hub, becomes known as 'the Railway King'.

Art and science

Disraeli's Coningsby is published. The first of his 1840s 'Young England' trilogy, it was the cultural manifesto of Disraeli's vision for a new Conservativism.
David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson set up their innovative and pioneering photography studio in Edinburgh, capturing portraits of both Scottish society figures and workers, as well as urban and rural landscape scenes.

International

Tensions continue to mount in Eastern Europe over Russian imperialist ambitions, as Tsar Nicholas I describes the Ottoman Empire as 'the Sick Man of Europe'.
With the overthrow of the Haitians, the Spanish-speaking portion of the island of Hispaniola gains independence, as the Dominican Republic.

Comments back to top

We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.

If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.