Denis Dighton - D10750
Portraits in Profile: the Dighton Family
Denis Dighton 1792-1827
NPG D10750
John Bellingham , published 1812
Bellingham assassinated the prime minister Spencer Perceval in 1812. A tradesman and commercial agent, he had faced bankruptcy in 1794 and then in 1804 was detained in Russia under charges of debt.
His appeals of injustice to the British Consul and ambassador went unheard. He was finally released in 1809 and returned to England intent on seeking redress but he failed. Exasperated, he shot the prime minster in the lobby of the House of Commons on 11 May 1812.
He is shown here at his trial on 15 May. Found guilty, he was executed three days later.
John Bellingham ('John Bellingham, taken at the Sessions House Old Bailey, May 15 1812')
by Denis Dighton
published 16 May 1812
NPG D10750