9 OF 12

'General Blackbeard wounded at the battle of Leadenhall'

9 of 12 portraits of Mary Robinson (née Darby)

Identify sitters

by John Boyne, published by Edward Hedges
etching, published 5 January 1784
10 1/4 in. x 13 5/8 in. (260 mm x 346 mm) paper size
Purchased, 1947
Reference Collection
NPG D12344

Artistsback to top

John Boyne (1750-1810). Artist associated with 2 portraits.
Edward Hedges (active 1780-1794). Artist associated with 5 portraits.

Sittersback to top

Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Statesman; orator; author. Sitter associated with 106 portraits. Identify
Lord John Cavendish (1732-1796), Politician; MP for several constituencies. Sitter associated with 11 portraits. Identify
Charles James Fox (1749-1806), Whig statesman. Sitter associated with 308 portraits. Identify
King George IV (1762-1830), Regent 1811-19; Reigned 1820-30. Sitter associated with 273 portraits. Identify
Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (1732-1792), Prime Minister. Sitter associated with 64 portraits. Identify
Augustus Keppel, Viscount Keppel (1725-1786), Admiral. Sitter associated with 29 portraits. Identify
William Henry Cavendish Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland (1738-1809), Prime Minister. Sitter associated with 32 portraits. Identify
Mary Robinson (née Darby) (1756 or 1758-1800), Known as 'Perdita'; writer, actress and mistress of the future George IV. Sitter in 12 portraits. Identify
Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816), Dramatist and parliamentary orator. Sitter associated with 168 portraits. Identify

Placesback to top

Place made: United Kingdom: England, London (92 Cornhill, London)

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1784back to top

Current affairs

Theatre proprietor and postal reformer John Palmer runs the first mail coach in England, between Bristol and London. A three day journey is now completed in 16 hours.
Commutation Act reduces punitive duties on tea to combat smuggling.

Art and science

Aeronaut James Sadler makes the first hot air balloon flight in Britain, from Oxford to Woodeaton.
Chemist Henry Cavendish's paper Experiments on Air reveals the composition of water.
Writer Samuel Johnson dies.
Joshua Reynolds succeeds Allan Ramsay as Painter to the King.

International

Thomas Jefferson's Land Ordinance passed by the United States' Continental Congress, coming into effect the following year. It allows for the sale of land in the largely unmapped west of the country.
Britain receives its first bales of cotton from the United States since before the War of American Independence.
William Pitt's India Act creates a Board of Control to oversee the affairs of the British East India Company and centralise power.

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