Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth

1 portrait

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth

by Sir William Beechey
oil on canvas, engraved 1803
49 3/4 in. x 40 in. (1265 mm x 1015 mm)
Purchased, 1985
Primary Collection
NPG 5774

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Sir William Beechey (1753-1839), Portrait painter. Artist or producer associated with 252 portraits, Sitter in 7 portraits.

This portraitback to top

This portrait probably dates just before 1803 when Addington had to deal with threats of Napoleonic invasion after the failure of the Peace of Amiens (1802). He was an ineffective wartime leader and lost the premiership to Pitt in 1804. Between 1812 and 1821 he served as Home Secretary in Lord Liverpool's government and was reviled by radicals who identified him with the government's repressive policies.

Related worksback to top

  • NPG D15569: Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth (source portrait)
  • NPG D41679: Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth (source portrait)

Linked publicationsback to top

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1803back to top

Current affairs

The Vice Society is formally established by John Reeves and his associates to campaign against blasphemy and immorality, particularly that perpetrated by Thomas Paine and the Edinburgh Review.

Art and science

Erasmus Darwin's Temple of Nature published posthumously. A scientific treaty in the form of an elaborate couplet poem, its content anticipated some of the evolutionary ideas developed by his grandson, Charles Darwin, fifty years later.
Construction of the Caledonian Canal begins.

International

War with France resumes, sparking new fears of a cross-channel invasion.
United Irishman, Robert Emmett's attempted uprising in Dublin. Planned to coincide with Napoleon's expected invasion, it aimed to overthrow the English administration but ended in failure. Emmett is hanged along with several other conspirators.

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