Hogarth's House
Encyclopedia
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
artist William Hogarth
William Hogarth
William Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
in Chiswick
Chiswick
Chiswick is a large suburb of west London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located on a meander of the River Thames, west of Charing Cross and is one of 35 major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, with...
. The House now belongs to the London Borough of Hounslow
London Borough of Hounslow
-Political composition:Since the borough was formed it has been controlled by the Labour Party on all but two occasions. In 1968 the Conservatives formed a majority for the first and last time to date until they lost control to Labour in 1971. Labour subsequently lost control of the council in the...
and is open to visitors free of charge. Chiswick is now one of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's western suburbs, but in the 18th century it was a large village or small town quite separate from the metropolis, but within easy reach of it.
Construction and early occupation
The house was built between 1713 and 1717 in the corner of an orchard belonging to the Downes family. Its first occupant was Rev George Andreas Ruperti, the pastor of St Mary's Lutheran churchSavoy Chapel
The Savoy Chapel or the Queen's Chapel of the Savoy is a chapel off the Strand, London, dedicated to St John the Baptist. It was originally built in the medieval era off the main church of the Savoy Palace...
in the Savoy, London, who used it as his country home. He cared for the thousands of refugees from the Rhineland who arrived in London following a famine in 1708-9. They hoped to be able to reach America - with Ruperti's help many did, and some settled in the south of Ireland. Ruperti's lists of the refugees, which record their trades, have been invaluable to family historians. He was appointed to the Lutheran Church at St James's Palace in 1728 at a salary of £200 a year. After his death in 1731 his widow retained the House; the Hogarths bought it from his son in 1749.
According to the increased valuations in the parish rate books, the Hogarths extended it in 1750 and Mrs Hogarth added another single storey extension in 1769. It was the artist's country retreat from 1749 until his death in 1764; he had a "painting room" over his coach-house at the bottom of the garden. He shared it with his wife, mother-in-law, his wife's cousin, Mary Lewis (who assisted with his business) and his sister. His town house was in Leicester Square
Leicester Square
Leicester Square is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street, to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west...
, and was demolished in 1870. William Hogarth is buried in the graveyard of the nearby St Nicholas' Church, Chiswick; his fine tomb-monument carries an obituary by his great friend, the actor David Garrick
David Garrick
David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...
. The family's connections with the House continued until Mary Lewis' death in 1808.
From 1814 to 1833 the House belonged to Rev Henry Francis Cary
Henry Francis Cary
Henry Francis Cary was a British author and translator, best known for his blank verse translation of The Divine Comedy of Dante.-Biography:Henry Francis Cary was born in Gibraltar, on 6 December 1772...
, a poet and skillful translator of Dante
DANTE
Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
's Divine Comedy. He came to Chiswick as Curate of St Nicholas' Church and went on to become Assistant Librarian at the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. He was part of a circle of writers and poets, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...
who promoted Cary's Dante translation and made it a best seller. The House was acquired in 1833 by the Wickstead family; they migrated to Australia in 1840 and left the House to tenants. In about 1867 it became home to Newton Treen Hicks ("Brayvo Hicks") a well-known melodramatic actor.
Restoration and museum
Alfred Dawson, whose family home at The Cedars adjoined Hogarth's and whose printing works was nearby, rescued the House in 1890 and restored it. He leased it to a nursery gardener along with part of his own garden. However, he sold it in 1900 and it was put up for auction for re-development in 1901. A campaign by artists and writers failed to raise sufficient funds to buy the House but it was purchased by Lieutenant-Colonel Robert William Shipway, of Grove House, Chiswick. He restored it with the help of Frederick William Peel ARIBAAriba
Ariba is a software and information technology services company located in Sunnyvale, California.- Early life :Ariba was founded in 1996 by Bobby Lent, Boris Putanec, Paul Touw, Rob Desantis, Ed Kinsey, Paul Hegarty, and Keith Krach on the idea of using the Internet to enable companies to...
and Henry Austin Dobson
Henry Austin Dobson
Henry Austin Dobson , commonly Austin Dobson, was an English poet and essayist.-Life:He was born at Plymouth, the eldest son of George Clarisse Dobson, a civil engineer, of French descent. When he was about eight, the family moved to Holyhead, and his first school was at Beaumaris in Anglesey...
, Hogarth's biographer. He provided a collection of Hogarth's works, commissioned replica furniture based on pieces in Hogarth prints and even took the photographs for the first guide book himself. He opened it to visitors in 1904. Shipway gave the house to Middlesex County Council
Middlesex County Council
Middlesex County Council was the principal local government body in the administrative county of Middlesex from 1889 to 1965.The county council was created by the Local Government Act 1888, which also removed the most populous part of the county to constitute the County of London...
in 1909 and ownership passed to Hounslow Council
London Borough of Hounslow
-Political composition:Since the borough was formed it has been controlled by the Labour Party on all but two occasions. In 1968 the Conservatives formed a majority for the first and last time to date until they lost control to Labour in 1971. Labour subsequently lost control of the council in the...
when Middlesex was abolished in 1965.
The house was damaged in September 1940 as a result of a parachute mine
Parachute mine
A parachute mine is a parachute naval mine dropped from an aircraft. They were mostly used in World War II by the Luftwaffe and initially by the Royal Air Force Bomber Command.-Blast effects:...
explosion nearby during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It was repaired and re-opened in 1951. At that time the single-storey extension was completely rebuilt to provide a small exhibition room. The interior of the House was refurbished for the Hogarth Tercentenary in 1997.
Refurbishment
The house closed for refurbishment in September 2008. On 14 August 2009, there was a fire in the house, which was empty. No furnishings or prints were lost, but the staircase and one room were badly damaged and other areas suffered from smoke damage and the effects of the water which doused the flames. The entire structure was carefully restored and a major research project carried out on the history of the House and its occupants. A paint analysis has informed the re-decoration, and original features have been repaired and revealed, including window shutters, fire surrounds and hearths, and two areas of original floorboards. The restoration has actually been undertaken twice because of fire damage in 2009 (see below). The Heritage Lottery FundHeritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
, the John & Ruth Howard Charitable Trust and the William Hogarth Trust have supported the London Borough of Hounslow in this project with grants and expert advice. Negotiations over insurance and the requirement for complete rewiring, as well as structural repairs, have delayed the re-opening until 2011.
Two floors of the house opened to visitors on 8 November 2011. The top floor houses a study/research room for use by appointment. The furnishing includes Shipway's replica pieces and the new exhibition presents the House as a home, as well as celebrating Hogarth's life and work. Some of his best known engravings will be displayed, including the series The Harlot's Progress, A Rake's Progress
A Rake's Progress
A Rake's Progress is a series of eight paintings by 18th century English artist William Hogarth. The canvases were produced in 1732–33 then engraved and published in print form in 1735...
and Marriage à-la-mode.
The House has an attractive walled garden which contains a mulberry
Mulberry
Morus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae. The 10–16 species of deciduous trees it contains are commonly known as Mulberries....
tree. This is probably the last survivor of the original orchard established in the 1670s. It was damaged by the parachute mine and brought back to good health by arboriculturists from Kew Gardens.
External links
- Hogarth's House - official site at London Borough of Hounslow
- Hidden London
- http://williamhogarthtrust.org.uk