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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

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The Gallery’s Acknowledgement of Country, and information on culturally sensitive and restricted content and the use of historic language in the collection can be found here.

New South Wales (Earl Beauchamp)

1899
Sir Leslie Ward, Vincent Brooks, Day & Son (lithographer) and Vanity Fair Magazine (publisher)

from the series ‘Vanity Fair’
chromolithograph on paper (sheet: 38.4 cm x 26.0 cm)

William Lygon, seventh Earl Beauchamp (1872–1938) was the twentieth governor of New South Wales. London-born and educated at Eton and Oxford, he succeeded his father as Earl Beauchamp at age nineteen and was 23 when he entered public life as the mayor of Worcester. Politically progressive, he claimed on his appointment to the position of New South Wales governor that he ‘scarcely knew where the colony was and certainly nothing about it’. Indeed, he claimed to have considered the job offer ‘so ridiculous’ that he came close to refusing it. Unsurprisingly, on arriving in Sydney in May 1899, he offended locals with his allusions to the colony’s convict origins and other gaffes. Though caricatured by the Bulletin, Beauchamp was spoken of by his friend Henry Lawson as ‘a fine, intelligent cultured gentleman’ who ‘understood and loved the bush people of Australia’, and he was noted for the tact with which he responded to crises such as the outbreak of bubonic plague in Sydney in 1900. He left in October 1900, eighteen months into his term, but did not return to Sydney before it concluded in November 1901. He remained in politics on his return to England, spending the last years of his life in exile in Europe and the USA when threatened with legal proceedings that would have exposed his homosexuality.

Gift of Ronald A Walker 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. Works of art from the collection are reproduced as per the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). The use of images of works from the collection may be restricted under the Act. Requests for a reproduction of a work of art can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

Artist and subject

Sir Leslie Ward (age 48 in 1899)

Vincent Brooks, Day & Son

Vanity Fair Magazine

William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp (age 27 in 1899)

Subject professions

Government and leadership

Donated by

Ronald Walker (23 portraits)

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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

This website comprises and contains copyrighted materials and works. Copyright in all materials and/or works comprising or contained within this website remains with the National Portrait Gallery and other copyright owners as specified.

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. The use of images of works of art reproduced on this website and all other content may be restricted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Requests for a reproduction of a work of art or other content can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

The National Portrait Gallery is an Australian Government Agency