Genius Fan

Portrait Summary

Subject: Henry Pelham, 25 September, 1694 – 6 March, 1754

• This watercolour sketch is of Henry Pelham, Britain’s third Prime Minister. It was during his administration (1743–1754) that Bonnie Prince Charlie, the Young Pretender, launched the Jacobite rebellion of 1745. His goal was to put a Stuart and Catholic (his father James Edward Francis Stuart, the Old Pretender) on the British throne as James III of England and VIII of Scotland. This was a huge event in British history. The rebellion failed and ended with the battle of Culloden near Inverness on 16 April, 1746. How the Duke of Cumberland, King George II’s brother, committed atrocities on the battlefield and after is common knowledge, but we don’t discuss who was driving everything, back at Westminster. That was Henry Pelham. He brought Cumberland back to Britain from fighting in Flanders. He was the administrative engine behind the war effort. He kept the cash flowing from the Treasury into Cumberland’s efforts. And then after the battle (it lasted less than an hour) and Cumberland’s reprisals, it was Pelham who spearheaded the pacification of the Highlands. His ministry introduced the Act of Proscription and the Heritable Jurisdictions Act which dismantled the Highland way of life. It was Pelham’s efforts that put the Jacobite cause to rest for good.
• Painting: The original of this painting was created by artist William Hoare (1707-1792) in 1751, when Pelham was 57 years old. This was five years after the Battle of Culloden. Hoare based himself in Bath from 1740-1759 where he met many of the clients he went on to paint. In Bath he was the main oil portraitist until the arrival of Thomas Gainsborough.
• See the original painting at the National Portrait Gallery internet page.