Overall: 49cm (19in) x 38cm (15in)
Mezzotint on paper. Half-length portrait of Admiral The Hon. Samuel Barrington (1729-1800) in captain’s undress uniform, 1748–1767. Engraved by Richard Earlom after Benjamin Wilson (1721-1788). Lettered beneath the image with the title: ‘The Honourable Samuel Barrington. Vice Admiral of the Blue.’ Also lettered with the production details and publication line: ‘Benjn. Wilson pinxit. / R. Earlom fecit. / London. Printed for R. Sayer & J. Bennett, No. 53 Fleet Street, as the Act directs 20th Septr. 1779.’ This print was engraved in mezzotint by 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. Framed and glazed.
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Admiral Samuel Barrington (1729–1800). Fourth son of John Shute Barrington, 1st Viscount Barrington (1678–1734) and Anne Daines. He entered the Navy at an early age in 1741, became a lieutenant in 1745. Saw service throughout the Seven Years War. Served under Hawke in Basque Roads expedition, 1757; under Rodney at destruction of shipping at Havre-de-Grâce, 1759; with Hon. J. Byron at Louisbourg, 1760, and with Keppel at Belle Isle, 1761. Served as flag-captain under the Duke of Cumberland, 1768; attached to Channel Fleet 1771–4. In 1778 he was C-in-C West Indies and subsequently 2nd in command to Howe at Gibraltar. By the time Wilson’s portrait 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.
He had a reputation in the service for kind-heartedness and humanity. He was made an admiral in 1787. He died at Bath. Unmarried.