4 OF 5 
Thomas Worlidge
4 of 5 portraits of Thomas Worlidge
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Share this
Thomas Worlidge
by Thomas Worlidge
etching, 1754
7 3/4 in. x 6 1/4 in. (198 mm x 158 mm) plate size; 9 3/4 in. x 6 7/8 in. (248 mm x 175 mm) paper size
Acquired, 1961
Reference Collection
NPG D36300
Sitterback to top
- Thomas Worlidge (1700-1766), Painter and etcher. Sitter associated with 5 portraits, Artist or producer associated with 51 portraits.
Artistback to top
- Thomas Worlidge (1700-1766), Painter and etcher. Artist or producer associated with 51 portraits, Sitter associated with 5 portraits.
Events of 1754back to top
Current affairs
Death of the Prime Minister Henry Pelham. He is succeeded by his brother Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle.General election increases the Whig party's majority
Art and science
Scottish chemist Joseph Black identifies carbon dioxide.Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce (Society of Arts) is established in London.
Designer and cabinet-maker Thomas Chippendale publishes his first catalogue of furniture.
Philosopher David Hume's expansive and best-selling six-volume History of Great Britain begins publication.
International
Albany Congress: the British colonies negotiate with the native-American Iroquois in the face of the French threat in the Ohio valley. Benjamin Franklin proposes that the colonies should unite to form a colonial government. The pro-union woodcut he publishes of a snake cut into eight pieces, entitled 'Join or Die', becomes America's first political cartoon.George Washington kills ten French troops at Fort Duquesne.
Comments back to top
We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.
If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.
J E Ashley
10 July 2016, 21:13
Thos Worlidge;
He was initiated as a freemason in Lodge [SN 119] which met at the Black Boy and Sugar Loaf, Stanhope Street, Clare Market, London, working under the Moderns (or premier) Grand Lodge of England in 1730, where he served as Junior Warden that year. He became a joining member of a Lodge [SN 128] which met at the Rummer, Charing Cross, London on 18 August 1732. He designed the frontispiece of the Free-Masons’ Pocket Companion, published in 1735. He also painted a portrait of James Ashley of the London Punch House [Ludgate Hill] wearing Masonic regalia [image available Courtesy of Grosvenor Prints], and of Simon Fraser, 1729 - 1777, Provincial Grand Master of Canada, 1760 - 1764. Worlidge died at The Vineyard, Hammersmith on 23 September 1766. He was buried in St. Paul's churchyard, Hammersmith, where a marble slab in his memory, inscribed with verses by William Kenrick, was placed on the wall of the church. After his death his widow and her family, the Wicksteads, published Worlidge's last major project, Select Collection of Drawings from Curious Antique Gems … Etched after the Manner of Rembrandt, in 1768. A full biography can be found in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
A photograph of a self-portrait of Thomas Worlidge is held by The Library and Museum of Freemasonry.