![Anne Byrd Carter attributed to William Dering](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Anne_Byrd_Carter_attributed_to_William_Dering.jpg)
William Dering (active between 1735 and 1751) was an American dancing master and painter active primarily in
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
. Very little is known about his life or career; what few details have been established are known primarily from
newspaper
A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...
advertisements, court records, journal entries, and ledgers and from his few surviving paintings.
Life
Dering is first recorded as a dancing master in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, from 1735 to 1736. A good conversationalist, he is said to have been respected as well for his talents on the
French horn
The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...
;
his school also offered lessons in "Reading, Writing, Dancing, Plain Work, Marking, Embroidery, and several other Works: where Likewise young Ladies and Gentlemen may be instructed in the French."
He was likely still in Philadelphia in May of the next year, when local papers advertised the loss of his horse.
Dering had moved to
Gloucester County, Virginia
Gloucester County () is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,711. Its county seat is Gloucester Courthouse. The county was founded in 1651 in the Virginia Colony and is named for Henry Stuart, ...
by 1737.
With his wife Sarah, he was present on October 8, 1738, at the baptism of their son, also named William, at
Abingdon Church
Abingdon Church is a historic Episcopal church located near White Marsh, Gloucester County, Virginia. It and its glebe house are among the oldest buildings in Virginia and were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
The pa ...
.
Dering is next found in
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is ...
, where he moved in 1742
and continued as a dancing master, opening a school at the
College of William and Mary
The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...
"where all Gentlemens Sons may be taught Dancing, according to the newest French Manner, on Fridays and Saturdays once in Three Weeks";
he seems to have taken up portrait painting sometime in the mid-1740s.
What caused the decision is unknown, although it has been suggested that the return of painter
Charles Bridges Charles Bridges may refer to:
* Charles Bridges (theologian) (1794–1869), preacher and theologian in the Church of England
* Charles Bridges (painter) (1672–1747), English painter active in the American colonies
* Charles Bridges (politician) (1 ...
to England may have served as a prompt;
indeed, it has been surmised by some that Dering purchased painting supplies from Bridges prior to the latter's departure.
Dering purchased a house from Henry Cary II, the
Brush-Everard House,
on the Palace Green, near the
Governor's Palace;
it survives today, preserved by the
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has 7300 employees at this location a ...
.
Dering is known to have been acquainted with members of some of the more important families in Virginia society;
William Byrd II
William Byrd II (March 28, 1674August 26, 1744) was an American planter, lawyer, surveyor, author, and a man of letters. Born in Colonial Virginia, he was educated in London, where he practiced law. Upon his father's death, he returned to Virg ...
, in his diaries, records many visits by the dancing master to
Westover Plantation
Westover Plantation is a historic colonial tidewater plantation located on the north bank of the James River in Charles City County, Virginia. Established in c. 1730–1750, it is the homestead of the Byrd family of Virginia. State Route 5, ...
in 1740 and 1741, and in the latter year records a visit to Henry Cary II at
Ampthill
Ampthill () is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, between Bedford and Luton, with a population estimate of 8,100 (Mid year estimate 2017 from the ONS). It is administered bAmpthill Town Council The ward of Ampthill which also i ...
,
at which Dering was present.
The nature of the men's professional relationship is unknown, due to the cryptic nature of the diary; Byrd does mention a visit during which he showed Dering some prints, suggesting that Dering may have come to Westover in furtherance of his artistic pursuits.
During another visit he is recorded as having played the French horn.
Dering continued in his primary career, arranging balls and assemblies in Williamsburg at least through the spring of 1747.
However, he was plagued with debts and other legal issues throughout his time in the town,
and as early as 1739 is recorded as a party in numerous
lawsuits from residents of Williamsburg and Gloucester and
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
counties.
Furthermore, inventories of his heavily-
mortgage
A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any ...
d house reveal a surprisingly lavish lifestyle for a person of his profession.
Dering had left Williamsburg by December, 1749, heading to
Charleston, South Carolina, where he was last recorded with certainty in 1751.
He had left his wife behind to settle his debts and auction off the couple's belongings; it is possible that she took in boarders as well.
Documentary references to a William Dering being active in Charleston in 1764 have been found; some scholars, believing the two to be one and the same, have suggested a link between the dancing master and the earlier pastelist
Henrietta Johnston (whose first marriage was to a man named Dering), who lived in that city until her death. Others believe the link to be dubious at best.
Work
Fewer than a dozen portraits attributed to Dering survive, suggesting that painting may have merely been a sideline and not a main source of income for him.
Only one is signed, that of ''Mrs. Drury Stith'';
the others have been linked to him due to their stylistic similarity to this one.
His best-known work is a full-length portrait of George Booth of Gloucester County, dating to around 1745; it is currently in the collection of the
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has 7300 employees at this location a ...
, along with a portrait of his mother, Mrs. Mordecai Booth;
a portrait of Anne Byrd Carter;
and the portrait of Mrs. Stith.
It is recorded that Dering was possessed, in 1745, of "1 large hair Trunk with about 200 prints",
and his portraits, as with many others painted in the Colonies, suggest a knowledge of pose gleaned from English prints.
Most of his paintings have been described as "linear and flat", and they reveal a limited knowledge of technique.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dering, William
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
Artists from Philadelphia
Painters from Pennsylvania
People from Williamsburg, Virginia
Painters from Virginia
Dance teachers
18th-century American painters
18th-century American male artists
American male painters
American portrait painters
People of colonial Pennsylvania
Virginia colonial people
People from Gloucester County, Virginia