Sir Henry William Beechey (12 December 1753 – 28 January 1839), English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 portrait-painter, was born at Burford

Burford

Burford is a small town on the River Windrush in the Cotswold hills in west Oxfordshire, England, about west of Oxford, southeast of Cheltenham and only from the Gloucestershire boundary...

, the son of William Beechey (*1732) and Hannah Read (*c1732).

He was originally meant for a conveyancer, but a strong love for painting induced him to become a pupil at the Royal Academy

Royal Academy

The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...

 in 1772. Some of his smaller portraits gained him considerable reputation; he began to be employed by the nobility, and in 1793 became associate of the Royal Academy

Royal Academy

The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...

. In the same year he was made portrait-painter to Queen Charlotte. His work has been described as relatively sober.

He painted the portraits of the members of the royal family, and of nearly all the most famous or fashionable persons of the time. What is considered his finest production is a review of cavalry, a large composition in the foreground of which he introduced portraits of George III

George III of the United Kingdom

George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...

, the Prince of Wales

George IV of the United Kingdom

George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...

 and the Duke of York, surrounded by a brilliant staff on horseback. Among his portraits were those of Lord Nelson

Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson

Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...

, John Kemble

John Kemble

John Kemble may refer to:*John Kemble , Roman Catholic martyr*John Philip Kemble, English actor and manager*John H. Kemble, American maritime historian...

, and Sarah Siddons

Sarah Siddons

Sarah Siddons was a Welsh actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. She was the elder sister of John Philip Kemble, Charles Kemble, Stephen Kemble, Ann Hatton and Elizabeth Whitlock, and the aunt of Fanny Kemble. She was most famous for her portrayal of the Shakespearean character,...

.

George III and the Prince of Wales reviewing troops was painted in 1798, and obtained for the artist the honour of knighthood, and his election as RA (member of the Academy). This painting was destroyed in the 1992 Windsor Castle fire.

William Beechey's first marriage was to Mary Ann Jones (* ca. 1760, † 1793)in 1772 (other sources say 1778). Beechey had five children with her:

1. Emma Amalia Beechy (*1784; † 1859)
2. Henry William Beechey (*1788; † 4 August 1862) British painter, egyptologist
3. Charles Beechey (*1789)
4. Caroline Beechey (*1790)
5. Harriet Beechey (*1792)

He secondly married Ann Phyllis Jessop (*3 August 1764; 14 December 1833) in 1793 and had 16 children by her:

1. Ann Phyllis Beechey (*1794; †December 1883)
2. Frederick William Beechey
   Frederick William Beechey
   Frederick William Beechey was an English naval officer and geographer. He was the son of Sir William Beechey, RA., and was born in London.-Career:...
   
    (17 February 1796;– 29 November 1856), Royal Navy captain, geogrpher, politician
3. George Duncan Beechey
   George Duncan Beechey
   George Duncan Beechey was an English portrait painter, the fourth of Sir William Beechey’s eighteen children by Ann Phyllis Jessop , and a godson of George III...
   
    (*1798; † 6 December 1852), painter
4. Anna Dodsworth Beechey (*1800)
5. William Nelson Beechey (*3 August 1801; † 1 August 1878)
6. Charlotte Earl Beechey (*3 August 1801; † 28 November 1849)
7. Alfred Beechey (*24 June 1803)
8. St. Vincent Beechey
   St. Vincent Beechey
   The Revd. Canon St. Vincent Beechey was a 19th century vicar of Fleetwood and Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire and later of Worsley, Lancashire. He is most famous for founding Rossall School in Fleetwood, Lancashire in 1844 and was also President of the Manchester Photographic Society...
   
    (*7 August 1806; †19 August 1899), clergyman
9. Richard Brydges Beechey
   Richard Brydges Beechey
   Richard Brydges Beechey was an Anglo-Irish painter and Admiral in the Royal Navy. He was one of the 18 children of British painter Sir William Beechey and Ann Phyllis Jessop....
   
   (*17 May 1808; † 14 March 1895), painter and admiral in the British navy
10. Jane Henrietta Frances Beechy (*19 December 1809)
11. Augusta Beechey (* 1812)
12. Fredericka Anne Beechey (* 1814)
13. William Ernest Beechey (* 1816)
14. Frances Beechey (* 1818)
15. Phyliss Beechey (* 1820)
16. Daughter S. R. Beechey (* 1822)

Literature

A monograph by W. Roberts, Sir William Beechey, R.A., was published in in London 1907 and includes Beechey's account books and a list of works exhibited in his lifetime.