BRIGSTOCKE
,
THOMAS
(
1809
-
1881
),
portrait painter
;
b.
17 April 1809
at
61 King Street
,
Carmarthen
, son of
David
and
Mary
Brigstocke
. At 16 he entered
Sass
's drawing school at
6 Charlotte Street
,
Bloomsbury
, and subsequently studied under
H. P.
Briggs
and
J. P.
Knight
before spending eight years studying and painting at
Paris
,
Florence
,
Rome
, and
Naples
.
In
1847
he spent some months in
Egypt
where he painted portraits of
Mehemet
Ali
and his family. He m. a widow, a
Mrs.
Cridland
, who predeceased him, as did his only child, who d. in infancy. He d.
11 March 1881
at
3 Welbeck Street
,
Cavendish Square
,
London
, and was buried at
Kensal Green
.
Brigstocke
was known mainly for his portraits of members of well-known
South Wales
families and of notable military figures, although he also
painted historical pictures
. He exhibited sixteen pictures at the
Royal Academy
between
1843 and 1865
, and in
1845
he was commanded to appear before
queen
Victoria
to exhibit his portrait of
General
Nott
(q.v.)
.
Portraits by
Brigstocke
are to be found today in private hands in
England
and
Wales
and in public ownership such as the
National Portrait Gallery
, the
Oriental Club
in
Hanover Square
,
Carmarthen Town Hall
, and
Llanelly Town Hall
, and engravings of his works are to be found in the
N.L.W.
, the
N.M.W.
, the
British Museum
, and other national collections.
Bibliography:
-
Thieme-Becker
, v, 16;
-
Bryan
,
Bryan's dictionary of painters and
engravers
, i, 195;
-
Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography
;
-
T. M. Rees
,
Welsh painters, engravers and sculptors,
1527–1911
, 1912
.
Author:
Miss Megan Ellis, (1906-2001), Aberystwyth
