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Charles Babbage

9 of 40 portraits by Samuel Laurence

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Charles Babbage

by Samuel Laurence
oil on canvas, circa 1844-1845
50 in. x 40 in. (1270 mm x 1016 mm)
Bequeathed by Sir Edward Ryan, 1876
Primary Collection
NPG 414

On display in Room 16 on Floor 3 at the National Portrait Gallery

Sitterback to top

  • Charles Babbage (1791-1871), Mathematician, mechanical engineer, philosopher and computer pioneer. Sitter in 5 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • Samuel Laurence (1812-1884), Portrait painter. Artist or producer associated with 40 portraits, Sitter in 4 portraits.

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Events of 1844back to top

Current affairs

Britain experiences a railway boom. Peel's government passes a series of Acts creating provision of cheap, regular rail services. George Hudson, the first great railway entrepreneur, who controlled over 1,000 miles of railway track and whose enterprises made York a major commercial and transport hub, becomes known as 'the Railway King'.

Art and science

Disraeli's Coningsby is published. The first of his 1840s 'Young England' trilogy, it was the cultural manifesto of Disraeli's vision for a new Conservativism.
David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson set up their innovative and pioneering photography studio in Edinburgh, capturing portraits of both Scottish society figures and workers, as well as urban and rural landscape scenes.

International

Tensions continue to mount in Eastern Europe over Russian imperialist ambitions, as Tsar Nicholas I describes the Ottoman Empire as 'the Sick Man of Europe'.
With the overthrow of the Haitians, the Spanish-speaking portion of the island of Hispaniola gains independence, as the Dominican Republic.

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