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The Trial of Queen Caroline 1820

1 of 5 portraits of Henry Lascelles, 2nd Earl of Harewood

The Trial of Queen Caroline 1820, by Sir George Hayter, 1820-1823 -NPG 999 - © National Portrait Gallery, London

© National Portrait Gallery, London

Regency Portraits Catalogue

The Trial of Queen Caroline 1820

by Sir George Hayter
1820-1823
91 3/4 in. x 140 1/4 in. (2330 mm x 3562 mm)
NPG 999

Inscriptionback to top

Signed and dated lower right in black paint along wainscot above Hayter's left foot: George Hayter MASL Pinxit. 1823 and in red paint on portfolio under his arm: Hayter. (Hayter was appointed Master of the Academy of St Luke in Rome in 1819.)

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'The Trial of Queen Caroline', as it is almost universally known, was in fact not strictly a trial at all but a discussion on a Bill of Pains and Penalties amounting to an inquiry into the Queen's conduct during her wanderings abroad as Princess of Wales. It was hoped, by the Prince Regent at least, that the case would provide the evidence to enable him to divorce her. The evidence certainly materialised in much squalid detail but the 'trial' was adjourned for political reasons, Caroline was debarred from the Coronation in Westminster Abbey and died a fortnight later.
It was a political event of considerable significance and drama frequently descending into farce but always maintaining an element of the spectacular which George Hayter was to exploit. Unlike Hickel's picture of the House of Commons in 1793-4 (NPG 745), and indeed Hayter's own picture of the House of Commons in 1833 (NPG 54), the 'Trial' was commissioned. Hayter had the good fortune to find a patron in George Agar Ellis, a rising young Whig politician sympathetic to the Queen's cause, a man profoundly interested in the arts, a Director of the British Institution, and a few years later to become the moving spirit behind the purchase of the Angerstein Collection, the nucleus of the National Gallery. Agar Ellis appears as a key figure in 'Patrons and Lovers of Art' (see NPG 792-5) and was later created 1st Baron Dover. The picture was acquired from his descendants in 1912.
Hayter had the idea for a picture early in the proceedings. A drawing in the British Museum is inscribed: It was this Sketch, made in my pocket Book, which Mr George Agar Ellis was shown, previously to his given me the Commission to paint the Trial of the Queen for 2000 Guineas. 1820 G.H. 1824. This drawing (BM 1912-3-7-6) was acquired by the British Museum from an extra-illustrated volume of RA Catalogues, the NPG acquiring several more together with some MSS letters and notes (NPG 1695 and 2662). Agar Ellis, who appears in person fairly prominently standing near the artist in the right hand corner of the picture, insisted on nominating the sitters:

I have sent you a rough list of the Peers who I think should form part of the picture. - I have divided them into two classes - those who must be & those who may be in the Picture - of course subject to any revisions or alterations you may suggest ... I have written to Mr Denman this morning, & have desired him, if he will sit, to let you know it. - I have also requested him to speak to Brougham about it.
(Undated letter from Agar Ellis to Hayter in NPG archive.)

Most of the 80 names listed by Agar Ellis appear in the picture and more were added later reaching a final total of nearly three hundred.
During the course of the trial, Hayter made copious notes in pencil, pen or watercolour wash, annotating and numbering them and usually adding the dates which cover the whole range, though mostly August and October. They are mainly heads, animated groups talking and lounging about, and details of hands and the architecture. Annotated aides-memoire appear from time to time, such as: all the line of shadows from the gallery on the background wall very soft, and all the lights on the Brass brighter than anything, and very few sparkling touches of light on the embroidery of the Throne. Most of these sketches were guide lines only and by no means slavishly incorporated in the final picture. To supplement them he drew up a memorandum listing sixteen points for him to remember (MS in NPG archive):

Slight observations made in the House of Lords for my picture of the Queen's tryal
1. very few sparkling touches of light on the embroidery of the Throne.
2. Bishops Wigs are darker than the councellors, cravats much whiter than wigs.
3. The light descending from either side, casts strong & broad shadows on either opposite side, in the right hand corner of the right Gallery the heads are with broad shadows & sharp light from the opposite side and shadows from the rail broad and deep [sketch of figure leaning on rail].
4. The Heads on the right under the Gallery in full light from the opposite side but shadows soft.
5. The end of the benches in the Galleries not bright from being nearly perpendicularly under the window [small drawing of seated figure].
6. Great general difference in the tones of the reds all through the furniture of the House.
7. Heads in the middle of the House, in quiet masses of broad half tint & quiet descending light. Yet all receeding features in full dark shadow [sketch of Lord Eldon's head].
8. on the left side of the House the shadows with more point than on the right [sketch of a head] in the forenoon.
9. the shadows of heads &c frequently absorbed & lost in objects behind, or on the drapery -.
10. All the heads in the right corner beyond the Gallery much lower in tone, than those immediately under the Gallery.
11. The heads under the Throne with sharp clear light on the upper part & the lower parts in half tint & shadow.
All heads leaning forward at the Throne loose all light.
12. Some black cravats.-
13. features not visible beyond the Chancellors but in Masses.
14. Top of the Chancellor's wig whiter than any near it.
15. All the line of Shadow, from the Gallery on the red wall very soft.
16. the light on the brass brighter than any other object.

In spite of these aids the difficulties were formidable and Hayter emphasises them in the Introduction to his Descriptive Catalogue: the need to adhere strictly to the shape of the House of Lords, the benches and galleries on either side forming ten parallel lines, the cross-benches at right angles, the table at which the Lord Chancellor sits 'is sunk into a sort of well in the floor, and the woolsacks are so placed that their Lordships, the learned Judges sitting on them, were scarcely to be seen'. Then there were the harsh upright lines of the brass columns supporting Soane's galleries specially designed for the occasion; and finally light entering from six opposing windows 'which rendered it almost impossible for a painter, who did not, by partial or political feeling, determine to sacrifice one or the other side of his picture to shadow ...' (Descriptive Catalogue, p v).
In addition to these technical obstacles there were the difficulties of persuading an enormous number of people to give him sittings. Out of nearly 300 figures Hayter himself tells us that no less than 161 'did him the honour to sit for their portraits' (ibid, p vi). Curiously enough, although many of the Karl Anton Hickel's 1793-4 portrait studies and hundreds of Hayter's own small oil studies for the 1833 picture survive, only two are known for the 'Trial': the oil of Queen Caroline (NPG 4940) and the whole-length of Lord Holland (NPG 5192). A number of pencil, ink or watercolour sketches are known but it would appear that Hayter had planned his groups previously, then painted the portraits straight on the canvas. What happened to the 161 studies for which he had sittings is not known at present. There is no further record of them in the NPG archive. They did not appear in the Hayter sale, Christie's 19-21 April 1871, where heads of Queen Caroline were lots 565 and 587 and a sketch for the whole scene lot 615. Yet Hayter went to considerable trouble to achieve sittings. A letter to Lord Liverpool is a typical specimen, dated 7 March 1823:

Mr George Hayter presents his most respectful compliments to the Earl of Liverpool. He is really sorry to intrude this troublesome note upon his Lordship's time - but understanding yesterday that Mr Arbuthnot had had the kindness to explain to Lord Liverpool the state of his picture and the great advantage which would be derived from Lord L-- condescending to give Mr G H a short sitting, now that he has made his utmost use of the sketch he had the honour to be permitted to make at Fife House.
If Lord Liverpool can do Mr G H the favor to name any hour in next week, or on Sunday, which would be less inconvenient than another to his Lordship Mr G. H will be highly obliged & most grateful.
(Liverpool Papers, British Museum Add. MS 38475, f21.)

The Royal Dukes gave him sittings and Agar Ellis was also helpful as we have seen and Hayter declares that this 'zealous anxiety for its advancement and success enabled him to overcome the almost insurmountable difficulties of obtaining the favour of sittings ...' (Descriptive Catalogue, p vi).
The artist's choice of occasion is interesting and revealing - or was it Agar Ellis's choice? The view is a diagonal across the House looking towards the throne, and the moment chosen is on the sixth day of the trial, 23 August, when the witness Theodore Majocchi was being cross-examined by the peers. The Whig leader Lord Grey stands in dramatic attitude, arm outstretched, trying to check the flow of verbosity from Spineto, the interpreter, who numbers off points on his fingers beside Majocchi. Lord Holland stands behind Grey. The Queen seated on an elegant Regency chair, with a footstool, listens 'in an attitude in which ease and defiance were nicely blended' (Roger Fulford, The Trial Of Queen Caroline, 1967, p 46). Around her are grouped leading counsel of both sides, Tindal, Williams, Wilde, Denman, Lushington and Brougham, all for the Queen, being central figures. Focal points are J. S. Copley, the Solicitor-General, to the left, the Duke of Clarence standing in the left gallery, Wellington below him, the Earl of Derby sitting in the right gallery and below him Agar Ellis, the moving spirit of the picture itself, with the artist standing in the right corner. The general effect, in contrast to the static formality of Hickel's 'House of Commons of 1793', is a scene full of movement and animation.
At this time their Lordships were occupying the old Court of Requests, an ancient Gothic chamber in the Palace of Westminster which had been altered by Wyatt into, as described by his contemporaries, a stable in 'beastly bad taste', with 'more the appearance of a cotton-mill', and 'that august pile of brickbats and stucco' (King's Works, VI, 1973, p 517). These judgements may have been tainted by professional jealousy though not for nothing was Wyatt known as 'The Destroyer'. The view however is interesting in showing Wyatt's windows and ceiling, his sumptuous new throne, the magnificent brass chandeliers, Soane's galleries specially set up for the occasion, and behind them the Armada Tapestries commissioned by Lord Howard of Effingham and acquired by James I. It was in a room above here that the fire began which destroyed practically the entire Palace of Westminster in 1834.
Hayter's picture took two and a half years to paint and as he exhibited nothing at the Royal Academy nor the British Institution during this time it must have occupied him throughout. He was still having sittings early in March 1823 (as the letter to Lord Liverpool quoted above shows) but it was ready for exhibition at the end of March at Mr Cauty's Great Rooms in Pall Mall. By this time George IV had enjoyed a resplendent Coronation, the Queen had died and memories of the trial were fading, but the opening of Hayter's exhibition was attended by a glittering crowd of princes of the blood and the nobility and the establishment. They were able to buy for one shilling Hayter's Descriptive Catalogue with reference plates and a key identifying 189 figures. 'Portraits of the most illustrious and distinguished personages of the kingdom abound throughout', said The Morning Chronicle, and The Times in a long and lavishly complimentary review, clearly written by an admiring friend if not by the artist himself, declared that all the portraits were striking likenesses and 'by a judicious arrangement of the perspective lines, by a beautiful gradation of tint, and an extraordinary degree of relief and aerial effect, he has succeeded in producing a picture which, for a faithful imitation of the appearance of nature, has probably never been surpassed' (The Times, 31 March 1823). Other papers were favourable if less effusive.
After the exhibition Agar Ellis hung the picture in his house in Hanover Square where so many people wished to see it that he had to issue tickets. He sent some of these to Hayter with a mild warning about dirty boots:

I find it so inconvenient admitting persons to see the picture here without tickets, that I have given my Porter orders to admit no one in future unless they bring a ticket. I therefore send you some, to give to any of your friends who may apply to you - you will be so good as to put the day of the month under the word Wednesday - that it may specify what Wednesday - & your friends must attend to the notice about wet or dirty weather -.
(Undated letter in RA Catalogue XIII, 1824, p 18, MS in RA library.)

Agar Ellis was created 1st Baron Dover in 1831, and lived at Dover House, Whitehall (later called Melbourne House and now the Scottish Office) until his death in 1833 aged 36. 'The Trial' passed to his son and heir Henry Agar Ellis, 2nd Baron Dover and 3rd Viscount Clifden, then to the latter's only surviving daughter Lilah Georgiana who married the 3rd Baron Annaly. From him it was placed on loan to the NPG in 1895 and hung there, despite several attempts by the First Commissioner of Works to appropriate it for the House of Lords, until 1912 when it was bought from Lord Annaly by the National Art-Collections Fund and presented to the NPG.
An engraving was projected early in 1823, Hayter sending out a standard letter to discover the number of subscribers there would be at one guinea each so that he could have an idea how many to run off the plates before they were defaced (copy of 11 March 1823 to Lord Liverpool, British Museum Add. MS 38475. f37). The engraving rights were bought by the publisher Robert Bowyer who does not appear to have been in a hurry to take advantage of his asset. Seven years later Hayter felt obliged to write and ask what was happening:

It is a long while since I had the pleasure to hear from you ... I long very much to know the state of the plate of "Trial of The Queen". I long to see an etched proof. I long to read your opinion of its progress, and to have the gratification, as we are so near, of assisting its progress, if it lies in my power!
(Letter from Hayter to Bowyer, Paris, 2 April 1830, MS in NPG archive.)

Bowyer set to work and soon afterwards was able to send the proofs to Agar Ellis (by now Lord Dover) who acknowledged them in an undated letter from Dover House:

I am much obliged to you for the proofs of the Engraving of the Queen's Trial, which are admirable. You will oblige me by letting me have a copy of the Key, not mounted, so that I may frame it & place it with the original picture, as I have nothing of the kind. I have been ill or you would have heard from me sooner.
(Undated letter in RA Catalogue XIII, 1824, pp 19-20, MS in RA library.)

The engraving was published in 1832. The delay was possibly caused by the publisher himself not wishing to queer the pitch for a project of his own - an ambitious folio published in 1823, An Impartial Historical Narrative of those momentous events which have taken place ... during the period ... 1816 to 1823. Among its illustrations was a stipple engraving by George Murray from a watercolour painting by Stephanoff, Pugin and Bowyer himself, now in the House of Lords. A companion watercolour by the same artists shows the House of Commons debating the difficult problem of voting a grant of money to the Queen (see R. J. B. Walker, Catalogue of Paintings etc in the Palace of Westminster, II, 1960, pp 135a-b). Murray's engraving of the trial shows the House of Lords from a slightly different angle to Hayter's and with no attempt at portraiture.
Hayter followed the trial picture with a similar project, 'The Trial of Lord William Russell', a 17th century subject commissioned by the Duke of Bedford and now at Woburn Abbey. This led to 'The Coronation of Charles X', for which only an oil sketch materialised, and finally to his monumental 'Reformed House of Commons 1833', NPG 54 catalogued in Richard Ormond, National Portrait Gallery: Early Victorian Portraits, 1973, pp 526-36.
Hayter's original key for the 'Trial' was so excellent that it has been used, with a few modifications, in this Catalogue. Key numbers follow the names in the list below, which includes every known sitter in the picture. Those marked with an asterisk [*] appear in the main Catalogue.

ABOYNE, 5th Earl of (1761-1853) (later 9th Marquess of Huntley) KEY 83
*ADAMS, William (1722-1851) Counsel for the Crown KEY 32
AILESBURY, 2nd Earl of (1773-1856) (later 1st Marquess of) KEY 111
*ALBEMARLE, 4th Earl of (1772-1849) KEY 158
*ALVANLEY, 2nd Baron (1789-1849) KEY 159
*AMHERST, 2nd Baron (1773-1857) (later 1st Earl) KEY 160
*ANGLESEY, 1st Marquess of (1768-1854) KEY 121
ANSON, George (1797-1857) KEY 125
*ARBUTHNOT, Charles (1767-1850) KEY 186
ARGYLL, 6th Duke of (1768-1839) KEY 166
ASHBURNHAM, 3rd Earl of (1760-1830) KEY 42
ATHOL, 4th Duke of (1755-1830) KEY 48
*AUCKLAND, 2nd Baron (1784-1849) (later 1st Earl of) KEY 168
AYLESFORD, 5th Earl of (1786-1859) KEY 63
*BAGOT,2nd Baron (1773-1856) KEY 119
BANGOR, Bishop of, see MAJENDIE
*BARNES, Thomas (1785-1841) Editor of The Times KEY 35
*BARRINGTON, Shute (1734-1826) Bishop of Durham KEY 73
BATH, 2nd Marquess of (1765-1837) KEY 9
*BATHURST, 3rd Earl of (1762-1834) Secretary for War & Colonies KEY 70
BAYNING, 2nd Baron (1785-1823) KEY 178
BEAUFORT, 6th Duke of (1766-1835) KEY 58
BEAUFORT, 7th Duke of, see WORCESTER
*BEDFORD, 6th Duke of (1766-1839) KEY 141
BESSBOROUGH, 3rd Earl of (1758-1844) KEY 152
*BLESSINGTON, 1st Earl of (1782-1829) KEY 101
BRADFORD, 1st Earl of (1762-1825) KEY 8
BRIDGEWATER, 7th Earl of (1753-1823) KEY 61
*BROUGHAM, Henry Peter (1778-1868) (later 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux) Attorney-General for the Queen KEY 96
BROWNLOW, 1st Earl (1779-1853) KEY 13
BUCKINGHAM, 2nd Marquess of (1776-1839) (later 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos) KEY 133
*BURDETT, Sir Francis, Bart (1770-1844) KEY 115
BURGESS, Thomas (1756-1837) Bishop of St David's KEY 77
CALTHORPE, 3rd Baron (1787-1851) KEY 128
*CAMDEN, 1st Marquess (1759-1840) KEY 30
CANTERBURY, Archbishop of, see MANNERS-SUTTON
CARLISLE, 7th Earl of, see HOWARD
CARNARVON, 2nd Earl of (1772-1833) KEY 136
*QUEEN CAROLINE (1768-1821) KEY 108
CARRINGTON, 1st Baron (1752-1838) KEY 87
CARRINGTON, 2nd Baron, see SMITH, Robert
*CASTLEREAGH, Viscount (1769-1822) (later 2nd Marquess of Londonderry) KEY 173
CHATHAM, 2nd Earl of (1756-1835) KEY 49
CLANWILLIAM, 3rd Earl of (1795-1879) KEY 27
CLARE, 2nd Earl of (1792-1851) KEY 145
*CLARENCE, Duke of (1765-1837) (later King William IV) KEY 10
CLIFDEN, 2nd Viscount (1761-1836) KEY 162
CLINTON, 18th Baron (1787-1832) KEY 157
COCKERELL, Sir Charles, Bart (1755-1844) KEY 114
*COLVILLE, 9th Baron (1768-1849) KEY 6
COPLEY, Sir John Singleton (1772-1863) (later 1st Baron Lyndhurst) Solicitor-General KEY 41
*CORNEWALL, Folliott Herbert Walker (1754-1831) Bishop of Worcester KEY 66
CORNWALLIS, 2nd Marquess (1774-1823) KEY 43
COVENTRY, 7th Earl of (1758-1831) KEY 154
COVENTRY, 8th Earl of, see DEERHURST
*COWPER, Henry (1758-1840) Clerk of the House of Lords KEY 93
COWPER, 5th Earl (1778-1837) KEY 163
DACRE, 20th Baron (1774-1851) KEY 170
DALLAS, Sir Robert (1756-1824) Lord Chief Justice KEY 110
DARNLEY, 4th Earl of (1768-1831) KEY 130
DARTMOUTH, 4th Earl of (1784-1853) KEY 14
DE CLIFFORD, 21st Baron (1767-1832) KEY 31
DEERHURST, Viscount (1784-1843) (later 8th Earl of Coventry) KEY 153
*DE GREY, 2nd Earl, see GRANTHAM
DE LA WARR, 5th Earl (1791-1869) KEY 161
DE MAULEY, 1st Baron, see PONSONBY
DENBIGH, 7th Earl of (1796-1865) KEY 179
*DENMAN, Thomas (1779-1854) (later 1st Baron Denman) Solicitor-General for the Queen KEY 94
DERBY, 12th Earl of (1752-1834) KEY 184
*DEVONSHIRE, 6th Duke of (1790-1858) KEY 80
DIGBY, 2nd Earl of (1773-1856) KEY 52
DONOUGHMORE, 1st Earl of (1756-1825) KEY 129
*DOVER, 1st Baron, see ELLIS
DOWNSHIRE, 3rd Marquess of (1788-1845) KEY 148
*DUCIE, 4th Baron (1776-1840) (later 1st Earl of) KEY 181
DURHAM, 1st Earl of, see LAMBTON DURHAM, Bishop of, see BARRINGTON
EFFINGHAM, 1st Earl of, see HOWARD, 11th Baron
*EGREMONT, 3rd Earl of (1751-1837)
*ELDON, 1st Baron (1751-1838) (later 1st Earl of) Lord Chancellor
ELLENBOROUGH, 2nd Baron (1790-1871) (later 1st Earl of) KEY 120
*ELLIS, George Agar (1797-1833) (later 1st Baron Dover) KEY 176
*ELY, Bishop of see SPARKE
ENNISKILLEN, 2nd Earl of (1768-1840) KEY 7
*ERSKINE, 1st Baron (1750-1823) KEY 142
*ESSEX, 5th Earl of (1757-1839)
EXETER, 2nd Marquess of (1795-1867)
*EXMOUTH, 1st Viscount (1757-1833)
FALMOUTH, 4th Viscount (1787-1841) (later 1st Earl of)
*FARNBOROUGH, 1st Baron, see LONG
FITZROY, Lord John Edward (1785-1856)
FORTESCUE, 1st Earl (1753-1841) KEY 139
FOX, George Lane (c.1790-1848) KEY 107
GALLOWAY, 8th Earl of (1768-1834) KEY 16
*GARROW, Sir William (1760-1840) Baron of the Exchequer KEY 103
*GIFFORD, Sir Robert (1779-1826) (later 1st Baron Gifford) Attorney-General KEY 44
GLOUCESTER, Duke of (1776-1834) KEY 127
GORDON, 5th Duke of, see HUNTLEY, 8th Marquess of
GOSFORD, 2nd Earl of (1776-1849) KEY 137
GOWER, 4th Earl (1786-1861) (later 2nd Duke of Sutherland) KEY 28
GRAFTON, 4th Duke of (1760-1844) KEY 165
*GRANTHAM, 3rd Baron (1781-1859) (later 2nd Earl De Grey) KEY 3
*GRANVILLE, 1st Viscount (1773-1846) (later 1st Earl Granville) KEY 169
*GRENVILLE, 1st Baron (1759-1834) KEY 171
GREY, 2nd Earl (1764-1845) KEY 116
*GROSVENOR, 2nd Earl (1767-1845) (later 1st Marquess of Westminster) KEY 131
GURNEY, William Brodie (1777-1855) Shorthand writer KEY 47
GWYDYR, 2nd Baron (1782-1865) Lord High Chamberlain KEY 167
HAMILTON, 10th Duke of (1767-1852) KEY 155
HAMILTON, Lady Anne (1766-1846) Lady-in-waiting to the Queen KEY 96a
HAMPDEN, 2nd Viscount (1746-1824) KEY 29
*HARCOURT, Edward Venables Vernon (1757-1847) Archbishop of York KEY 78
HARCOURT, 3rd Earl (1743-1830) KEY 46
*HAREWOOD, 2nd Earl of (1767-1841) KEY 17
*HARROWBY, 1st Earl of (1762-1847) Lord President of the Council KEY 71
*HAYTER, Charles (1761-1835) KEY 25
HAYTER, George (1792-1871) (later Sir George) KEY 177
HEREFORD, 14th Viscount (1777-1843) KEY 150
*HILL, 1st Baron (1772-1842) (later 1st Viscount) KEY 11
*HOLLAND, 3rd Baron (1773-1840) KEY 122
HOWARD, George (1802-64) (later 7th Earl of Carlisle) KEY 21
HOWARD, 11th Baron (1767-1845) (later 1st Earl of Effingham) KEY 109
*HOWLEY, William (1766-1848) Bishop of London KEY 74
HUNTLEY, 8th Marquess of (1770-1836) (later 5th Duke of Gordon) KEY 85
HUNTLEY, 9th Marquess of, see ABOYNE
*JERSEY, 5th Earl of (1773-1859) KEY 182
KENYON, 2nd Baron (1776-1855) KEY 183
*KING, 7th Baron (1775-1833) KEY 144
KINNAIRD, Douglas James William (1788-1830) KEY 123
LAMB, William (1779-1848) (later 2nd Viscount Melbourne) KEY 99
LAMBTON, John George (1792-1840) (later 1st Earl of Durham) KEY 113
LANSDOWNE, 3rd Marquess of (1780-1863) KEY 135
LAUDERDALE, 8th Earl of (1759-1839) KEY 102
*LAW, George Henry (1761-1845) Bishop of Chester KEY 68
LEINSTER, 3rd Duke of (1791-1874) KEY 143
LIMERICK, 1st Earl of (1758-1844) KEY 12
*LIVERPOOL, 2nd Earl of (1770-1828) Prime Minister KEY 75
LLANDAFF, Bishop of, see VAN MILDERT
LONDON, Bishop of, see HOWLEY
*LONDONDERRY, 2nd Marquess of, see CASTLEREAGH
*LONG, Sir Charles (1760-1838) (later 1st Baron Farnborough) KEY 175
LOTHIAN, 6th Marquess of (1763-1824) KEY 56
LUSHINGTON, Stephen (1782-1873) Counsel for the Queen KEY 88
LUXMORE, John (1756-1830) Bishop of St Asaph KEY 72
LYNDHURST, 1st Baron, see COPLEY
MacGREGOR, William Gordon (d. 1840) KEY 19
*MAJENDIE, Henry William (1754-1830) Bishop of Bangor KEY 64
*MAJOCCHI, Theodore A chief witness KEY 60
*MANNERS SUTTON, Charles (1755-1828) Archbishop of Canterbury KEY 79
MANSFIELD, 3rd Earl of (1770-1840) KEY 5
MANVERS, 2nd Earl (1778-1860) KEY 6
MELBOURNE, 2nd Viscount, see LAMB MELVILLE, 2nd Viscount (1771-1851) KEY 55
*MORLEY, 1st Earl of (1772-1840) KEY 164
MUDFORD, William (1782-1848) Editor of The Courier KEY 36
*NELSON, 1st Earl (1757-1835) KEY 146
*NORTHUMBERLAND, 3rd Duke of (1785-1847) KEY 180
NORTHWICK, 2nd Baron (1770-1859) KEY 53
OGLE, Chaloner Blake (c.1765-1857) KEY 24
PARKE, James (1782-1868) (later 1st Baron Wensleydale) Counsel for the Crown KEY 33
*POMFRET, 3rd Earl of (1768-1830) KEY 134
PONSONBY, William (1787-1855) (later 1st Baron De Mauley) KEY 98
PORTLAND, 4th Duke of (1768-1854) KEY 57
POWELL, John Allen (d. 1859) Solicitor for the Crown KEY 20
*RICHMOND, 5th Duke of (1791-1860) KEY 1
RIVERS, 2nd Baron (1751-1828) KEY 40
*ROBINSON, Sir Christopher (1766-1833) King's Advocate KEY 34
*ROLLE, 1st Baron (1750-1842) KEY 100
ROSEBERY, 4th Earl of (1783-1868) KEY 138
*ROSSLYN, 2nd Earl of (1762-1837) KEY 140
RUSSELL, Lord George William (1790-1846) KEY 112
RUSSELL, Lord John (1792-1878) (later 1st Earl) KEY 124
RUTLAND, 5th Duke of (1778-1857) KEY 2
ST ALBANS, 8th Duke of (1766-1825) KEY 132
ST ASAPH, Bishop of, see LUXMORE
ST GERMANS, 1st Earl of KEY 37
*SCOTT, Sir William (1745-1836) (later 1st Baron Stowell) KEY 126
SHAFTESBURY, 6th Earl of (1768-1851) KEY 45
*SIDMOUTH, 1st Viscount (1757-1844) Home Secretary KEY 69
SMITH, Robert (1796-1868) (later 2nd Baron Carrington) KEY 26
SOMERSET, 11th Duke of (1775-1855) KEY 185
*SPARKE, Bowyer Edward (1759-1836) Bishop of Ely KEY 97
SPINETO, the Marchese di (c.1774-1849) Interpreter KEY 67
*STAFFORD, 2nd Marquess of (1758-1833) (later 1st Duke of Sutherland) KEY 84
*STOWELL, 1st Baron, see SCOTT
*SUTHERLAND, 1st Duke of, see STAFFORD
SUTHERLAND, 2nd Duke of, see GOWER
SYDNEY, 2nd Viscount (1764-1831) KEY 82
THANET, 9th Earl of (1769-1825) KEY 156
THOMAS, Matthew Evan (1788-1830) A reporter KEY 22
*TIERNEY, George (1761-1830) KEY 172
*TINDAL, Nicholas Conyngham (1776-1846) (later Sir Nicholas) Counsel for the Queen KEY 90
TRENCH, Power Le Poer (1770-1839) Archbishop of Tuam KEY 81
TRURO, 1st Baron, see WILDE
TUAM, Archbishop of, see TRENCH
TYRWHITT, Sir Thomas (c.1762-1839) Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod KEY 174
VAN MILDERT, William (1765-1836) Bishop of Llandaff KEY 59
VERNON, Edward Venables, see HARCOURT
VERNON, George Granville Venables (1785-1861) KEY 86
VERULAM, 1st Earl of (1775-1845) KEY 4
VIZARD, William (1774-1859) Solicitor for the Queen KEY 95
WARWICK, 3rd Earl of (1779-1853) KEY 147
*WELLINGTON, 1st Duke of (1769-1852) KEY 62
WENSLEYDALE, 1st Baron, see PARKE
*WESTMINSTER, 1st Marquess of, see GROSVENOR
*WESTMORLAND, 10th Earl of (1759-1841) KEY 50
WHITBREAD, Samuel Charles (1796-1879) KEY 89
*WHITWORTH, 1st Earl (1752-1825) KEY 38
WILDE, Thomas (1782-1855) (later 1st Baron Truro) Counsel for the Queen KEY 92
*KING WILLIAM IV, see CLARENCE, Duke of
WILLIAMS, John (1777-1846) (later Sir John) Counsel for the Queen KEY 91
WINCHESTER, 13th Marquess of (1764-1843) KEY 54
*WOOD, Matthew (1768-1843) (later Sir Matthew, Bart) KEY 117
WORCESTER, Marquess of (1792-1853) (later 7th Duke of Beaufort) KEY 106
WORCESTER, Bishop of, see CORNEWALL
WRIGHT, W. Doorkeeper KEY 18
YORK, Archbishop of, see HARCOURT
*YORK, Frederick, Duke of (1763-1827) KEY 76
*YOUNG, Charles Mayne (1777-1856) KEY 23

Referenceback to top

Fulford 1967
Roger Fulford, The Trial Of Queen Caroline, 1967.

Hayter 1823
George Hayter, A DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE of the Great Historical Picture representing the Trial of Her Late Majesty QUEEN CAROLINE OF ENGLAND ..., 1823.

Press Cuttings 1686-1837 (V&A Museum library):

Morning Chronicle, 31 March.

The Englishman, 30 March 1823.

The Examiner, 7 April 1823, p 234.

The Times, 31 March.

RA library: RA Catalogues (Basil Jupp), XIII, 1824, pp 19-20.

I am indebted to Richard Ormond whose work on the picture is in the NPG archive.

Physical descriptionback to top

Hayter's picture represents the interior of the House of Lords during the discussion in August to November 1820 of the Bill to dissolve the marriage between George IV and his Queen Consort, Caroline of Brunswick.

Provenanceback to top

Commissioned by George Agar Ellis MP (later 1st Baron Dover), then by family inheritance to his granddaughter Lady Lilah Annaly; loan to NPG from Lord Annaly 1895 and bought from him in 1912 with help from the NACF.

Exhibitionsback to top

Mr Cauty's Great Rooms, 80½ Pall Mall, 1823.

Reproductionsback to top

Mezzotint by J. Bromley, J. Porter and J. G. Murray, published Bowyer & Parkes 1832 with key-plate.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: Richard Walker, Regency Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, 1985, 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.

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