Richard Vaughan ('Hell Fire Dick') ('A view of the telegraph, Cambridge')
2 of 4 portraits of Richard Vaughan ('Hell Fire Dick')
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Richard Vaughan ('Hell Fire Dick') ('A view of the telegraph, Cambridge')
by and published by Robert Dighton
hand-coloured etching, published May 1809
10 7/8 in. x 8 in. (275 mm x 202 mm) plate size; 14 5/8 in. x 10 3/8 in. (372 mm x 264 mm) paper size
Purchased with help from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust, 1966
Reference Collection
NPG D4557
Sitterback to top
- Richard Vaughan ('Hell Fire Dick') (1761-1816), Driver of the Cambridge Telegraph. Sitter in 4 portraits.
Artistback to top
- Robert Dighton (1751-1814), Portrait painter, caricaturist and actor. Artist or producer associated with 320 portraits, Sitter in 4 portraits.
Related worksback to top
- NPG D10880: Richard Vaughan ('Hell Fire Dick') ('A view of the telegraph, Cambridge') (from same plate)
- NPG D13468: Richard Vaughan ('Hell Fire Dick') ('A view of the telegraph, Cambridge') (from same plate)
- NPG D13469: Richard Vaughan ('Hell Fire Dick') ('A view of the telegraph, Cambridge') (from same plate)
Events of 1809back to top
Current affairs
Duke of Portland resigns as Prime Minister to be succeeded by Spencer Perceval.Motion for parliamentary reform is defeated in the House of Commons.
Notorious duel between George Canning and Viscount Castlereagh over strategic failures against Napoleon.
Art and science
Maria Edgeworth publishes Tales of Fashionable Life, a popular and perceptive series of stories exploring Anglo-Irish society after the Union.Robert Smirke completes the New Covent Garden Theatre after fire. 'Old Price' theatre riots quickly break out against rising cost of admission.
Pall Mall in London is lit by gas for the first time.
International
British army lands in Lisbon and defeats the French at Talavera. Arthur Wellesley is created Viscount Wellington as a result of this victory.Walcheren expedition led by General Chatham, which aimed to take Antwerp, fails amidst allegations of military corruption and carnage.
James Madison is elected President of the United States.
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