Admiral John Markham

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Artist: Thomas Lawrence (British, 1769–1830)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 30 x 25 inches (76.2 x 63.5 cm)
Museum: Yale Center for British Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

The second son of William Markham, Archbishop of York, John Markham (1761–1827) entered the Royal Navy at the age of thirteen, served in North America and the West Indies, and rose to the rank of post-captain in 1783. Around the time this portrait was painted, Markham was in command of HMS Blonde, serving in 1793 under Admiral Sir John Jervis (later Lord St. Vincent) at the so-called reduction of Martinique during the French Revolutionary Wars.

Thomas Lawrence also painted a portrait of John’s younger brother David, an army officer who was killed in combat in Haiti in 1795, at the same time as the present picture. Both portraits hung in their father’s London home until his death in 1807, when they were placed in the dining room at Becca Hall, Yorkshire, the seat of their eldest brother.

Text: Yale Center for British Art.