Full length portrait of Sir Benjamin Heywood, Bt, banker, MP, first President of the Manchester Mechanics' Institution (1824), and Vice-President of the Royal Manchester Institution. The subject is a middle-aged man dressed in a long black coat and white necktie. His head is turned to the right, and he holds a document in his left hand with the word 'Report' written upon it. Sir Benjamin's right arm is outstretched in gesture as he stands beside a table with documents laid over it. A long red drape hangs behind him, and at his right foot, a pile of books are laid on the floor.