The Hon Samuel Barrington, 1729-1800 (before letters)

State before letters. A half-length portrait to right of Samuel Barrington (1729–1800) in captain’s undress uniform, 1748–1767, with a wig. He stands in front of a coastal background with distant ships on the right. This print was engraved in mezzotint by Richard Earlom in 1779 after an original oil painting by Benjamin Wilson, who was friends with Barrington’s brother, the lawyer, antiquary and naturalist Daines Barrington. Wilson’s painting was produced around 1765, at which point the sitter was a post-captain. By the time the picture was engraved in September 1779, Barrington had risen to the rank of vice-admiral of the blue. He had recently returned from the West Indies, where he had worked with General James Grant to capture St Lucia in December 1778, before subsequently serving as second-in-command to Admiral John Byron in a disastrous action against the French off Grenada in July 1779. (Updated April 2019.)

Object Details

ID: PAG9290
Type: Print
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Earlom, Richard; Wilson, Benjamin
People: Barrington, Samuel
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London. Caldwell Collection
Measurements: Sheet: 354 x 287 mm