James Heath ARA the Engraver Oil painting by James Lonsdale (1777-1839) Painted in 1830 (Home)  (James Heath)

The painter James Lonsdale was born in Lancashire and moved to London in around 1799.  He was for a short while the pupil of George Romney, after which he enrolled at the Royal Academy schools in 1801.  In 1806, he presented to Lancaster his Admiral Lord Nelson, for which he received the freedom of the city.  Lonsdale established himself as a portrait artist.  His output was prolific; he exhibited 138 paintings at the Royal Academy between 1802 and 1838, eighty-seven with the Society of British Artists, and seven with the British Institution.  Lonsdale portrayed many members of the aristocracy and royalty including Queen Caroline, Archduke Maximilian, the king of the Belgians, the tsar of Russia, Lord Hamilton, the Duke of Wellington and the Duke of Sussex.  A good selection of his work is held in the National Portrait Gallery London.