Mid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue

Samuel Bentham (1757-1831), Naval architect

Naval engineer, younger brother of Jeremy Bentham; worked in Russia 1780-91 as a naval engineer; Potemkin made him colonel in 1784, and brigadier-general and Kt of St George 1789; [1] returned to England 1791 as an inspector for the navy office; revisited Russia 1805-07 and on his return became commissioner of the navy.

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1) In his obituary Gentleman's Magazine, CI, 1831, II, p 91, he was described as ‘Sir Samuel Bentham K.S.G ... He was allowed to wear the insignia of the order of St George of Russia, 16 July 1789’. The ribbon of this Order was orange with three black stripes.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, National Portrait Gallery, 2004, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.