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Peter Monamy has been described as a Jersey born painter by every biographer since George Vertue in the mid eighteenth century. Recent research by a descendant, Charles Harrison-Wallace, has shown conclusively that this is in error. Peter Monamy was born in The Minories in the City of London, and was baptised in the church of St. Botolph's-without-Aldgate on 12th January 1681, the fourth son of Pierre Monamy and his wife Dorothy, nee Gilbert. The Monamy family was indeed from the Channel Islands, where they are first noticed as early as 1540 as successful merchants.
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By the late seventeenth century, the family had become rather less distinguished, and the artist's father spent some months in prison for infringements of the Customs regulations with regard to importing and exporting to the Channel Islands. Where Peter Monamy's interest in art was fostered is entirely unknown, but in 1696 he was indentured as apprentice to William Clarke of the Company of Painter-Stainers for seven years. Clarke was Master of his Livery in 1687, and had a good trade in decorative painting, rather than easel painting, in the City.
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In 1704, now a Freeman of his Guild, Monamy married his first wife, who died shortly after; in 1706 he married his second wife Hannah Christopher. This was the year before the death of Willem Van der Velde the younger, the greatest Dutch marine painter of his age, who had longed lived and worked in London. His death left a considerable void in London for marine painting, which was only slightly filled by the ongoing work of his son Cornelius van der Velde who continued his father's calling. It seems that the Monamy's beginnings as a marine painter may be traced to Cornelius van der Velde's studio, and, indeed, Vertue refers to him as painting imitations of Van der Velde and other famous Dutch masters. By the early 1720's, though, Monamy was establishing a good reputation as the leading London marine painter, and the first native-born marine painter of this quality. Patronage came from numerous sources, not least from such Channel Islands naval families as the Durrels and the Saumarez's. In 1726 he was elected a Liveryman of the Company of Painter-Stainers, to whom he presented the very large painting of the Royal Sovereign at anchor, a picture which still remains in their collection.
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From the 1730's until his death, Monamy was at the centre of London artistic life. He was a friend and companion of Hogarth, and collaborated with the celebrated younger artist. He painted some of the decoration at the glamorous new Vauxhall Gardens and was patronised by many of the leading families of the day. He was never particularly prosperous, however, and seems to have preferred to paint decorative pictures for the commercial galleries and dealers.
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Charles, 2nd Viscount Townshend (1674-1738), immortalised as Turnip Townshend, of Rainham in Norfolk, was a statesman and agriculturalist, who was educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge.He was a central figure in the negotiations with the continental powers which brought to a conclusion the wars in which his colleague the Duke of Marlborough had played such a central role in Queen Anne's day. He travelled frequently to the continent as a statesman, and was assiduous in playing court to King George I during his long stays away from England. His frequent travels seem to have brought about his interest in ships, and he was opposed to the bill that was proposed to Parliament which would have forbidden English shipbuilders from making ships for the foreign market. His interest in shipping and commerce were extraordinary for an aristocrat of his age. He seems to have had a broad sweep of interests and learning, and after his retirement he threw himself into agricultutral improvements in his native Norfolk. His promotion of the turnip (which earned his famous sobriquet) was important in leading to the improvements of Bakewell and Curwen, and he was the first to widely promote the marling of land to improve its quality and yield, and to have noted that enriching qualities of clover as a crop.
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