 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Westmorland |
| Captured | By French (1779); later recaptured |
| General characteristics | |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Armament | 26 guns |
The Westmorland or Westmoreland [1] was a 26-gun British privateer frigate, operating in the Mediterranean Sea against French shipping in retaliation for France's opposition to Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War.
The most notable incident in the life of the Westmorland occurred shortly after she sailed for Britain from Livorno under Captain Michael Wallace late in 1778, carrying a large monetary payment for her inbound cargo of salt cod from Newfoundland (Livorno was a trade hub for this commodity), food goods, [2] and 57 crates of artistic objects collected by Grand Tourists such as the Duke of Gloucester, Sir John Henderson and the Duke of Norfolk. [3]
In January 1779, [4] she was given chase by four French ships, comprising two men-of-war, the Caton (64) and the Destin (74), and two smaller vessels. Wallace attempted to outsail them but, outgunned as he was, soon felt he had little option but to allow the French to board his ship. She was then allowed by Spain (then friendly with France though not yet — in formal terms at least — at war with Britain) to continue to Málaga.
The Westmorland was renamed, re-commissioned into the Spanish fleet, but eventually re-taken in the Caribbean by the British. [5]
At Málaga her artistic contents were passed on from the French government to two trading companies with links to Ireland, despite Wallace's protests that the ship was full of "extremely precious goods" (the French had already seized her cash cargo), and the Spanish king was informed by his prime minister, José Moñino, 1st Count of Floridablanca, of the arrival of the art works. Upon Spain's formal declaration of war, king Charles III secretly bought the art from a syndicate of Madrid merchants for 360,000 silver reales (a discount on their original asking price of 600,000 gold doubloons, but still a considerable sum) and had it brought by cart to the capital. Portraits of Francis Basset, 1st Baron de Dunstanville and Lord Lewisham, meanwhile, were acquired by the Spanish Prime Minister. [6]
Although the British consul at Cadiz had initially informed the British Admiralty that the Westmorland and her cargo had been seized as legitimate prizes, demands followed from the British ambassador, firmly backed at cabinet level, for the repatriation of the art and (in a prisoner exchange for French and Spanish prisoners taken by the Royal Navy) the crew of the Westmorland. Yet to this day, these coveted artistic treasures remain the possession of the Prado Museum, the Real Academia, and other Spanish national collections. There were only a few exceptions: a package of Catholic relics intended for the Duke of Norfolk (which the Spanish returned unopened to the Vatican); Sir Watkin Williams Wynn's Perseus and Andromeda by Mengs, which ended up in the collection of Catherine the Great at the Hermitage Museum and some items which were sent to Mexico, then a Spanish colony.
In 1784, the £100,000 for which the art had been insured at Livorno were paid out in London. However, for a long time it was difficult to identify precisely many of the items in Spain. For example, paintings had been assigned generalised titles such as "A traveller in Italy". [6] Recent research into the original lists in Spain has made more precise identification possible, [7] cataloguing for example items from the collection of Francis Basset, 1st Baron de Dunstanville, including his two portraits.
In 2012 an exhibition of many of the art works captured was held at the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford University, [7] and then traveled to the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, United States. [8] [9] In 2024 an exhibition entitled "El Westmorland en Málaga" was held in the former Bishop's Palace of Málaga under the auspices of Unicaja Bank's cultural foundation and the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. [5]
Pompeo Girolamo Batoni was an Italian painter who displayed a solid technical knowledge in his portrait work and in his numerous allegorical and mythological pictures. The high number of foreign visitors travelling throughout Italy and reaching Rome during their "Grand Tour" led the artist to specialize in portraits.
Livorno is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn.
The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank when they had come of age. The custom—which flourished from about 1660 until the advent of large-scale rail transport in the 1840s and was associated with a standard itinerary—served as an educational rite of passage. Though it was primarily associated with the British nobility and wealthy landed gentry, similar trips were made by wealthy young men of other Protestant Northern European nations, and, from the second half of the 18th century, by some South and North Americans.
Sir George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, 13th Baron de Clifford, 13th Lord of Skipton,, was an English peer, naval commander, and courtier of Queen Elizabeth I of England. He was notable at court for his jousting, at the Accession Day Tilts, which were highlights of the year at court. Two famous survivals, his portrait miniature by Nicholas Hilliard and a garniture of Greenwich armour, reflect this important part of his life. In contrast, he neglected his estates in the far north of England and left a long succession dispute between his heirs.
Events from the year 1758 in art.
Events from the year 1737 in art.
Events from the year 1756 in art.
Events from the year 1778 in art.
Events from the year 1762 in art.
James Byres of Tonley FRSE FSAScot FSA was a Scottish architect, antiquary and dealer in Old Master paintings and antiquities.
Francis Basset, 1st Baron de Dunstanville, FRS was an English peer and politician who sat in the British House of Commons from 1780 to 1796, representing the constituency of Penryn.
Admiral John Gell (1740–1806) was from the Gell and Eyre families of Hopton Hall in Derbyshire. He served with the Royal Navy, fighting in India and taking part in the occupation of Toulon.
HMS Ariel was a 20-gun Sphinx-class sixth-rate post ship of the Royal Navy. The French captured her in 1779, and she served during the American Revolutionary War for them, and later for the Americans, before reverting to French control. Her French crew scuttled Ariel in 1793 to prevent the British from recapturing her.
Carlo Albacini was an Italian sculptor and restorer of Ancient Roman sculpture.
HMS Pomona was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Pomona was first commissioned in September 1778 under the command of Captain William Waldegrave.
Sir John Henderson FRSE FSA, fifth of the Henderson baronets of Fordell, Fife, was a Scottish nobleman and politician. He trained as a lawyer and was also a competent antiquary.
Neptune, was launched in 1805 as a West Indiaman. A French privateer captured her in 1809 but passengers and some disaffected members of the prize crew recaptured her. She returned to the West Indies trade and foundered on 4 February 1825 while returning to Liverpool from New Orleans.
Harriot was launched in 1784, on the Thames as a West Indiaman. Her owners may have intended to send her to the South Seas as a whaler in 1786, but there is no evidence that she actually made such a voyage. A new owner renamed her Dominica Packet around 1787. She then spent her career primarily sailing between Britain and the West Indies. During her career she, together with two other Liverpool letters of marque, captured a valuable Spanish merchantman. Later, Harriot captured a Dutch East Indiaman. A Baltimore privateer captured Dominica Packet in 1813, but the British Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. She foundered circa January 1821.
Portrait of the Duke of Grafton is a 1762 portrait painting by the Italian artist Pompeo Batoni of the English aristocrat Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, a future prime minister of Great Britain.