Honoratus Leigh Thomas (1769-1846)
Object numberRCSSC/P 215
CollectionSpecial collections
CategoryVisual works
Object nameOil paintings, Portraits
TitleHonoratus Leigh Thomas (1769-1846)
DescriptionPortrait of Honoratus Leigh Thomas by James Green, unsigned.
Three-quarter length, seated, head turned to right; he wears a black suit with a white cravat. His right arm rests on a table covered with a patterned cloth, on which are books, papers and an inkpot; his right hand holds a quill while his left lies on his knee.
Thomas came to London as a young man with an introduction to John Hunter; he acted as dresser at St George’s Hospital, where he also a pupil of William Cumberland Cruikshank, the anatomist. He obtained the diploma of the Corporation of Surgeons in 1794, and was one of the 300 Fellows elected in 1843. Thomas entered the medical service of the Navy in 1792 as First Mate (3rd rate), and, on Hunter’s recommendation, was appointed Assistant Surgeon to Lord Macartney’s ‘Embassy to China’. In 1799 he volunteered for medical service with the Duke of York’s Army in Holland, and on the capitulation of the forces to the French he elected to be made prisoner in order to stay with the wounded. On his return to London he settled into practice and enjoyed a successful career. He served in many College offices: Member of the Court of Assistants, 1818-1845; Examiner, 1818-1845; Vice-President, 1827, 1828, 1836, and 1837; and President, 1829 and 1838.
Artist
Sitter/subject
presented
Physical Location
Location
Not on public display: contact museum for access conditions
Physical Information
Physical descriptionOil on canvas, 126cm by 101cm. In gilt wooden frame, not glazed, 150cm by 123.5cm.
B. 1769. HONORATUS LEIGH THOMAS. (GREEN) D. 1846
Bibliography
SourceHallett 1892
4
NotesCatalogued as No. 1, p. 4.