Later Stuart Portraits Catalogue
Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery (1674-1731), Soldier and scholar
- Gallery portraits
- All known portraits
- Biography and References
Scholar and Tory politician; brought up by his mother at Knole (the 6th Earl of Dorset was his uncle); Christ Church, Oxford; BA 1694; edited the disputed Letters of Phalaris 1695 (see Richard Bentley); MP [I] 1695-99; succeeded his brother as 4th Earl (I) 1703; MP 1701-05; KT 1705; FRS 1706; served in Flanders attaining the rank of major-general 1716, his career helped by his friendship with the 2nd Duke of Argyll; created Baron Boyle of Marston 1711; envoy extraordinary in Brussels and The Hague 1711-13; a Jacobite by 1717, imprisoned for six months 1722-23 on suspicion of treason, but acquitted; bequeathed his vast library and collection of scientific instruments to Christ Church; the tellurion (a model of the universe), was named the orrery by Richard Steele in his honour.
‘He was of a middle Size, and so very slender, and had such a Gate, that a Stranger to him, who had walked behind him, would have taken him, the very Year he died, for a young Fellow of five and twenty. He was short sighted …’ (E. Budgell, 1732).
This extended catalogue entry is from the National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Later Stuart Portraits 1685-1714, National Portrait Gallery, 2009, 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.
‘He was of a middle Size, and so very slender, and had such a Gate, that a Stranger to him, who had walked behind him, would have taken him, the very Year he died, for a young Fellow of five and twenty. He was short sighted …’ (E. Budgell, 1732).
This extended catalogue entry is from the National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Later Stuart Portraits 1685-1714, National Portrait Gallery, 2009, 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.