John Charles Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey
1 of 4 portraits of John Charles Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey
© National Portrait Gallery, London
John Charles Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey
by Henry Joseph Whitlock & Sons Ltd
bromide print, published 1912
5 7/8 in. x 3 7/8 in. (149 mm x 98 mm) overall
Given by Terence Pepper, 2011
Photographs Collection
NPG x134966
Sitterback to top
- John Charles Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey (1840-1929), Jurist and politician. Sitter in 4 portraits.
Artistback to top
- Henry Joseph Whitlock & Sons Ltd (active 1903-after 1914), Photographers. Artist or producer associated with 14 portraits.
This portraitback to top
This portrait of Lord Mersey was published alongside portraits of Captain Smith and Captain Arthur Henry Rostron who commanded Carpathia, the ship that raced through hazardous waters to rescue nearly 700 survivors.
Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top
- Photograph of the Month: April 2012 (2 April 2012 - 30 April 2012)
Portrait setback to top
Events of 1912back to top
Current affairs
The Royal Flying Corps is established. During the Great War, planes and balloons were used mainly for reconnaissance and observation before technological advances made them fast enough and manoeuvrable enough to attack enemy positions and fight in the air. Arthur (Bomber) Harris won distinction as a pilot destroying five enemy aircraft in the war. In the Second World War he became Marshal of the Royal Air Force.Art and science
George Bernard Shaw writes Pygmalion.Charles Babbage's invents the Analytic Machine. Considered to be the forerunner to the modern computer, the machine was able to make automatic mathematical calculations.
International
Scott leads the British Expedition to the South Pole reaching it in January 1912 only to discover that the rival Norwegian party had beaten them by a month. All members of Scott's team perished on the return journey. Captain Oates' famous last words were immortalised in Scott's diary: 'I am just going outside and may be some time.'The 'unsinkable' Titanic strikes an iceberg and goes down on its maiden journey between Southampton and New York.
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