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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.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.

Old soldiers

Dempsey's people
 

At the start of the war with France in 1793, Britain’s standing army and navy comprised only some 40,000 soldiers and 100,000 sailors, but by the time of Waterloo (1815) there were an estimated 400,000 men under arms.

James Guidney, ‘Jemmy the Rock Man’, Birmingham, c.1830 by John Dempsey
‘Whistling Billy’ of York by John Dempsey
1 James Guidney, ‘Jemmy the Rock Man’, Birmingham, c.1830,. 2 ‘Whistling Billy’ of York,. Both by John Dempsey.

Following the final defeat of Napoleon, the majority of these forces were gradually disbanded, and the veterans were not easily absorbed into the (contracting) domestic economy. Most had been unskilled (or worse) at the time of their enlistment, the Duke of Wellington himself describing them as ‘the scum of the earth … it really is wonderful that we should have made them the fine fellows they are’.

Old soldier, Salisbury by John Dempsey
Old soldier, Hadleigh by John Dempsey
Thomas Edwards, Winchester,1823 by John Dempsey
1 Old soldier, Salisbury,. 2 Old soldier, Hadleigh,. 3 Thomas Edwards, Winchester,1823,. All by John Dempsey.

The troops flooded home, but there was little work and few prospects for them there, especially for the permanently incapacitated. The derelict Old Soldier would become a familiar figure in the society and culture of the early 19th century – half a dozen of Dempsey’s characters have a history of infantry or maritime service.

Dempsey's people
A folio of British street portraits 1824–1844
Allow me to introduce...
Beadles, bellmen and bumbles
Street fare
Old soldiers
Very small business
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John Dempsey folio

Related information

Copeman, gardener, Great Yarmouth by John Dempsey
Copeman, gardener, Great Yarmouth by John Dempsey
Copeman, gardener, Great Yarmouth by John Dempsey
Copeman, gardener, Great Yarmouth by John Dempsey

Dempsey's people

A folio of British street portraits 1824–1844

Previous exhibition, 2017

Dempsey’s people: a folio of British street portraits 1824–1844 is the first exhibition to showcase the compelling watercolour images of English street people made by the itinerant English painter John Dempsey throughout the first half of the nineteenth century.
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The National Portrait Gallery building front entrance
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The National Portrait Gallery building front entrance

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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.

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