Life

Farington was born at Leigh, Lancashire, his baptism being recorded on 10 November 1752, and was fourth son of the Rev. William Farington, vicar of there, who was later rector of Warrington

Warrington

Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...

. He was for many years a student of the Royal Academy

Royal Academy

The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...

, and obtained the silver medal in 1779, and in 1780 he won the gold medal for the best historical picture, the subject being ‘The Caldron Scene from Macbeth.’ He had in his early studies been guided by his brother Joseph Farington

Joseph Farington

Joseph Farington was an 18th-century English landscape painter and diarist.-Life and work:Born in Leigh, Lancashire, Farington was the second of seven sons of William Farington and Esther Gilbody. His father was the rector of Warrington and vicar of Leigh...

 the landscape-painter, but his preference being for historical subjects he became a pupil of Benjamin West

Benjamin West

Benjamin West, RA was an Anglo-American painter of historical scenes around and after the time of the American War of Independence...

. John Boydell

John Boydell

John Boydell was an 18th-century British publisher noted for his reproductions of engravings. He helped alter the trade imbalance between Britain and France in engravings and initiated a British tradition in the art form...

 gave him many commissions, and for him he made several drawings from the Houghton collection.

In 1782 he went to India, practising his art. When making studies for a grand picture of the court of the Nawab of Murshidabad, he fell ill, and died there a few days later in 1788.