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Sir Robert Shirley (Sherley)

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Sir Robert Shirley (Sherley)

possibly by James Fittler, published by William Richardson
line engraving, published 1803
7 3/4 in. x 4 7/8 in. (197 mm x 124 mm) paper size
Given by the daughter of compiler William Fleming MD, Mary Elizabeth Stopford (née Fleming), 1931
Reference Collection
NPG D26059

Sitterback to top

Artistsback to top

  • James Fittler (1758-1835), Engraver. Artist associated with 32 portraits.
  • William Richardson (active 1777-1814), Bookseller, printseller and auctioneer. Artist associated with 398 portraits.

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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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