Mary Isabella Manners (née Somerset), Duchess of Rutland

by Richard Read, after Matthew William Peters
stipple engraving, circa 1780-1790
4 1/4 in. x 3 3/4 in. (109 mm x 96 mm) paper size
Bequeathed by (Frederick) Leverton Harris, 1927
Reference Collection
NPG D14718

Sitterback to top

Mary Isabella Manners (née Somerset), Duchess of Rutland (1756-1831), Political hostess. Sitter associated with 7 portraits.

Artistsback to top

Matthew William Peters (1742-1814), Painter and Chaplain to the Prince Regent. Artist associated with 16 portraits, Sitter in 1 portrait.
Richard Read (1745?-1790?), Engraver. Artist associated with 7 portraits.

Portrait setback to top

Madame D'Arblay Diary, 1778-1840 (volume 2, part 1)

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1780back to top

Current affairs

Anti-Catholic mob led by Lord George Gordon marches on Parliament to protest against the Catholic Relief Act, leading to the outbreak of the Gordon Riots in London. Six days of rioting are ended by the intervention of troops, with 285 people shot dead.
Dunning's Motion in Parliament attacks the influence of the crown, suggesting that it has increased and ought to be diminished.

Art and science

Royal Academy moves to Somerset House on The Strand, London.
Mrs E. Johnson's British Gazette and Sunday Monitor, the first Sunday newspaper in Britain, begins publication.
Potter Josiah Wedgwood invents the pyrometer; a device used for measuring high temperatures.

International

American War of Independence: British troops under Charles Cornwallis defeat American army under Horatio Gates at Camden, South Carolina. The capture of British army officer and spy John André yields proof that US general Benedict Arnold is in the pay of the British. André is executed in as a spy.
Second Anglo-Mysore War in India between Hyder Ali and the East India Company.
Bolshoi Theatre of opera and ballet is founded in Moscow.

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