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Notes
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A posthumous portrait based on an unidentified source showing him three-quarter-length, wearing a buff coat lined with red over a red waistcoat, with a loose white stock. His hair, although painted as his own, long, powdered and dishevelled by wind, is probably a full-bottomed wig. His left hand rests on the fluke of an anchor, his right gestures towards the viewer. In the right background is a stormy seascape with three ships in distress, the most prominent being his flagship, the 'Mary', flying a blue ensign and his rear-admiral's blue flag at the mizzen. Beaumont was the fifth son of Sir Henry Beaumont. He entered the Navy as a king's letter boy in 1684 and was appointed lieutenant of the ‘Portsmouth’ in October 1688. In April 1689 he was promoted captain of the 'Centurion', which was lost by storm in Plymouth Sound in December, though he was not blamed.
Beaumont, only 34 when he died, had risen rapidly thanks to his connections rather than notably distinguished service: his posthumous fame is in having been the most senior officer lost in the Great Storm, which caused some 2,000 naval deaths. His mother petitioned Queen Anne for a pension in 1704, claiming he had been the sole support for his two younger brothers and six sisters. The outcome was that the six daughters were each granted £50 a year.
The painting is one of Kneller and Dahl 'admirals' set commissioned by Prince George of Denmark, Lord High Admiral, for his wife Queen Anne, which George IV presented to Greenwich Hospital in 1824.
Title
Rear Admiral Basil Beaumont (1669–1703)
Date
early 18th C
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 127 x W 101.5 cm
Accession number
BHC2542
Acquisition method
National Maritime Museum (Greenwich Hospital Collection)
Work type
Painting
National Maritime Museum
Romney Road, Greenwich, London, Greater London SE10 9NF England
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