Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington
1 portrait by Peter Pelham
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington
by and published by Peter Pelham, after Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
mezzotint, circa 1722-1727
14 in. x 10 in. (356 mm x 254 mm) plate size; 15 in. x 10 7/8 in. (381 mm x 276 mm) paper size
Reference Collection
NPG D4829
Sitterback to top
- Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington (1673-1743), Prime Minister; Speaker of the House of Commons. Sitter in 6 portraits.
Artistsback to top
- Peter Pelham (1695?-1751), Mezzotint engraver and painter in America. Artist or producer associated with 33 portraits.
- Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt (1646-1723), Portrait painter. Artist or producer associated with 1689 portraits, Sitter associated with 30 portraits.
Events of 1722back to top
Current affairs
Atterbury Plot discovered; Francis Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester is accused of promoting the Jacobite rising. Other leading Jacobite sympathisers are also arrested and Atterbury is banished the following year.General Election is won by the Whigs.
Art and science
Daniel Defoe publishes his novel Moll Flanders which traces the redemption of Moll, a penitent prostitute, thief and American convict.Writer and politician Richard Steele premieres his play The Conscious Lovers at the Drury Lane Theatre, London to great acclaim.
International
In sweeping reforms aimed at modernising Russia, Peter the Great introduces the Table of Ranks; a new meritocratic order of precedence which aims to break the power of the hereditary nobility.Dutch discover Easter Island, beginning a spate of European discovery in the islands of the Pacific.
Iroquois League of Native Americans becomes known as the Six Nations, after the Tuscarora join the group.
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