Grant Thorburn

1 portrait by Joseph Napoléon Gimbrede

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Grant Thorburn

by Joseph Napoléon Gimbrede, after G. Freeman
stipple engraving, 1846 or after
7 in. x 4 3/8 in. (177 mm x 112 mm) paper size
Purchased with help from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust, 1966
Reference Collection
NPG D11464

Sitterback to top

  • Grant Thorburn (1773-1863), Author and original of Galt's 'Lawrie Todd'. Sitter in 1 portrait.

Artistsback to top

  • G. Freeman (active 1828-1830), Painter. Artist or producer associated with 2 portraits.
  • Joseph Napoléon Gimbrede (born 1820), Engraver. Artist or producer associated with 1 portrait.

Portrait setback to top

Subject/Themeback to top

Events of 1846back to top

Current affairs

The Conservative Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel divides his own party by repealing the unpopular Corn Laws, which prohibited the import of cheap grain from overseas, viewed by many as causing the famines in Ireland (which peaked in this year), as well as domestic hardships following a bad harvest. Peel, defeated on a separate issue, resigns. The Whig Earl Russell becomes Prime Minister.

Art and science

Ether is used for the first time as anaesthetic in an operation by the dentist William Morton, while surgeon John Collins Warren removes a tumor on a patient's neck.
Edward Lear, the popular humourist and artist, and author of illustrated nonsense verse (including 'The Owl and the Pussycat'), publishes his Book of Nonsense.

International

The first Anglo-Sikh war ends with the Treaty of Lahore, by which Jammu and Kashmir are ceded to the British. The war had been fought between the Sikh kingdom of the Punjab and the British East India Company, with conflict escalating after internal disorder in the Punjab led the East India Company to increase their military presence on the border.

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