Richard Brydges Beechey (1808 – 14 March 1895) was an Anglo-Irish painter and admiral in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

Early life

Beechey was born to two British painters, Sir

William Beechey Sir William Beechey (12 December 175328 January 1839) was an English portraitist during the golden age of British painting. Early life Beechey was born at Burford, Oxfordshire, on 12 December 1753, the son of William Beechey, a solicitor, an ...

and his second wife, Anne Jessop.John Wilson, ‘Beechey, Sir William (1753–1839)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 200
accessed 2 May 2017
/ref> His brothers included the British sea captain and painter

Frederick William Beechey Frederick William Beechey (17 February 1796 – 29 November 1856) was an English naval officer, artist, explorer, hydrographer and writer. Life and career He was the son of two painters, Sir William Beechey, RA and his second wife, Anne ...

, the portraitist

Henry William Beechey Henry William Beechey (1788/89 – 4 August 1862) was an English painter and explorer. His father was the painter William Beechey, Sir William Beechey, Royal Academy, RA and his stepmother was Anne Beechey, Anne Jessop.John Wilson, 'Beechey, Si ...

and the painter

George Duncan Beechey George Duncan Beechey (1798 – 6 December 1852) was an English portrait painter. Life and career Beechey was the fourth child of two painters, Sir William Beechey and his second wife, Anne Jessop.John Wilson, ‘Beechey, Sir William (1753–1 ...

. Beechey joined the Royal Navy at the age of 14, and he eventually rose to the rank of admiral. Like his father and some of his brothers, he was a celebrated painter, who illustrated various ports and naval scenes.

Career

After the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth, Beechey sailed in HMS ''Blossom'', commanded by his brother

, into the Pacific, and then to the Bering Strait to attempt to support the

Franklin Expedition Franklin's lost expedition was a failed British voyage of Arctic exploration led by Captain Sir John Franklin that departed England in 1845 aboard two ships, and , and was assigned to traverse the last unnavigated sections of the Northwes ...

. He was promoted lieutenant in 1828. Then he served in the Mediterranean, and in 1835 was seconded to a survey of Ireland. He was made commander in 1846, and then in 1851 was promoted captain. In 1879, long after the end of his active naval career, he was promoted to the rank of vice-admiral on the retired list. After his retirement from the navy in 1864, he settled in Ireland, living for many years at Monkstown, and later in Pembroke Road, Dublin. He regularly exhibited paintings of maritime subjects at the

Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the RIA, the academy retained the word "Royal" after most of Ireland became in ...

, of which was made an honorary member in 1868. In about 1877, he settled at Plymouth.

Family

In 1844, he married Frideswide Maria Moore Smyth (1819–1885) of Portlick Castle, Westmeath.
Portlick Castle. Retrieved Oct. 02, 2007 They had two daughters, Annie L. Beechey and Frideswide F. Beechey (1851–1919). In 1882, his daughter Frideswide was the first woman to win a prize as a composer of chess problems. Her book ''Chess Blossoms'' was published in 1883, followed by ''Chess Fruits'' in 1884, which she co-wrote with her husband, Thomas B. Rowland. In 1888, some three years after the death of his first wife, Beechey married Frances, daughter of the Rev. Annesley Stewart of Trinity College, Dublin.

Death

Beechey died at 9 Portland Terrace,

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's s ...

, on 8 March 1895.

References

External links

Richard Brydges Beechey page at Encyclopedia of Irish and World Art
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beechey, Richard Bridges 1808 births 1895 deaths Anglo-Irish artists 19th-century Irish painters Irish male painters 19th-century Irish male artists