Life and work

Illidge was born in Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 on 26 September 1799, belonging to a family resident near Nantwich

Nantwich

Nantwich is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The town gives its name to the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich...

, Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

. Illidge's father moved to Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, and, dying young, left a young family ill-provided for. Illidge was educated in Manchester, and taught drawing. He was subsequently the pupil in succession of Mather Brown

Mather Brown

Mather Brown was a portrait and historical painter, born in Boston, Massachusetts, but active in England....

 and William Bradley

William Bradley (painter)

William Bradley was born at Manchester in 1801. Left an orphan when only three years of age, he commenced life as an errand boy, but his innate taste for drawing prevailed over all impediments, and at sixteen years of age he began practice as an artist, taking portraits at one shilling each, and...

. He initially tried landscape painting, but married early, and, as a result, took up portrait-painting as a more profitable endeavour.

Illidge was successful as a portrait-painter in the great manufacturing towns of Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

, painting many of the civic or financial celebrities of the locality. He was a frequent exhibitor at the Liverpool Academy

Liverpool Academy of Arts

The Liverpool Academy of Arts was founded in April 1810 as a regional equivalent of the Royal Academy, London. Two local art collectors, Henry Blundell and William Roscoe were its first Patron and Secretary, the Prince Regent gave his patronage for the next three years, and it was actively...

 from 1827. In 1842 he came to 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...

, and was from that time was a constant exhibitor at 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...

. In 1844, on the death of Henry Perronet Briggs

Henry Perronet Briggs

Henry Perronet Briggs was an English painter of portraits and historical scenes.-Life and work:Briggs was born at Walworth, County Durham, the son of a post office official. His cousin was Amelia Opie , the wife of artist John Opie...

, R.A., Illidge purchased the lease of the deceased artist's house in Bruton Street, Berkeley Square

Berkeley Square

Berkeley Square is a town square in the West End of London, England, in the City of Westminster. It was originally laid out in the mid 18th century by architect William Kent...

, where he commenced practice as a popular and fashionable portrait-painter.

Illidge died unexpectedly of fever on 13 May 1851.

External links

• Portrait of John Shore (engraving after Illidge - National Portrait Gallery)