painter and naval officer, was born on 17 May 1808, son of the eminent portrait painter Sir William Beechey RA. His mother, Lady Beechey, a miniaturist, also exhibited at the Royal Academy. He married Frideswide Maria Moore, eldest daughter of Robert Smyth of Portlick Castle, County Westmeath, Ireland. After service in the West Indies, Beechey sailed in HMS Blossom (under the command of his brother, F.W. Beechey) to the Pacific, twice visiting the Bering Strait.
In 1832-34 he showed several maritime paintings at the Royal Academy (as an honorary exhibitor) before going to Ireland as a surveyor. For the next 25 years Beechey pursued his naval career, eventually reaching the rank of admiral. Probably he sketched wherever he went (although no sketchbooks are known) since later oil paintings appear to be retrospective views based on earlier sketches. In 1858-77 he again exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy and showed paintings at the British Institution and the Society of British Artists. Most were of ships in storms which, according to Christopher Wood, prevented them from becoming popular. Beechey died in 1895.
The National Library of Australia holds four of Beechey’s paintings, including Lt. J. Stokes Speared in the Lungs While Discovering the Victoria River, Australia 1839 (1863). Beechey must have painted this from illustrations and accounts of the expedition by Stokes and his colleagues for he is not known to have visited mainland Australia.
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2011
