Sir William Beechey

William Beechey was born on 12 December 1753 at Burford, Oxfordshire. In 1772, he gave up his training as a lawyer to become a student at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. After exhibiting portraits in London and Norwich, where he remained for five years between 1782 and 1787, Beechey returned to London to enjoy a long and illustrious career as a portrait painter, becoming portrait painter to Queen Charlotte in 1793. His work 'Review of a Horse Guard with King George III and the Prince of Wales' (Royal Collections), painted in 1793, earned him a knighthood in 1798, the year in which he was elected a full member of the Royal Academy. His sons, Frederick William, George and Henry William, were also accomplished artists. He died on 28 January 1839.

From the guide to the William Beechey collection, 1819, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)