Titus Oates
(1649-1705), InformerSitter in 23 portraits
Oates was an opportunist who failed to make a career in the clergy. He made an insincere conversion to Catholicism and was briefly admitted into a Jesuit college. His experience there was used to give a veneer of plausibility to his fabricated Popish Plot to kill the king. His accusations caused panic in England and led to the persecution of Roman Catholics and the deaths of thirty-five innocent men. When the truth emerged, he was prosecuted for perjury and sentenced to be flogged, pilloried and imprisoned.
published by William Richardson
line engraving, published 25 March 1810
NPG D16605
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.